Long ago, in the days of old, there had lived a great and mighty warrior named Rosan. He was known by many names: Rosan the Ferocious, Rosan the Fearless, Rosan the Mighty, Rosan the Terrible. They all meant the same thing: HIM. He lived among the North Tribe, before it was destroyed by the Eastern Tribe--which later became known as the northern Tribes of Tumbar--and before Rosan was defeated, by the ancient warrior of the east: Mandalla Splitskin. Rosan had helped save his wife and newborn son, and countless others, evacuating them before the fires could claim them, but payed the ultimate price in the end. He had been faced and challenged by Splitskin the Eastern Warrior--who had claimed the title of "Splitskin" because his skin was split between darker colors and lighter colors, randomly. Splitskin and Rosan had fought, each wounding the other, until the Eastern Warrior had uppercut his opponent, and surprised Rosan. He had then scalped the man alive--as was the custom of the eastern warriors--and severed Rosan's head from his shoulders. Then, the eastern warrior had staked Rosan's head upon a high stake--claiming the land of the north for himself.
The eastern warrior had then committed treason and treachery toward his master, the High Lord of the East: Lord Manhattan Swordwielder. The eastern warrior trudged up to the castle of old, located in the far east, upon a great island once known as "Man-of-the-hat-tan." There, in the Imperial Castle, he attacked the High Lord, and claimed the throne for himself.
Now, as of Rosan's child and wife--as well as the other surviving runaways--they headed west, the opposite direction, toward the mountains. There, they halted upon the brink of the shingle-lands. Far in the distance, if they squinted hard enough, they could make out the small, dancing shapes of the pursuing horsemen and warriors of the east. The survivors continued west, until they came to "Thunder Mountain." Looming up above its twin-sisters and brothers, Thunder Mountain provided them with shelter. It was--and still is--said that the great thunder god, Thor, was banished from the realm of the All-Father (Odin)--Thor's FATHER--the realm of Asgard, and sent hurtling down to Midgard--the Middle Earth. There, he built a great palace and smithy to set his hammer, Mjolnir, to work. The tale was told by legendsmen, who said that when Thor brought his hammer down upon stone or steel--high up in his smithy--the whole world below rang with thunder and lightning. Thus, the Old Ones named the great looming creature "Thunder Mountain"--where it thundered and lightninged daily, when Thor brought his hammer down upon cold steel.
Upon arriving at this great beast of a mountain, the survivors found themselves with two choices: to turn back and surrender, and hope for pardon; OR, to trudge deeper into the heart of the mountain. The latter decision was chosen over the