One of the problems that comes up in D&D is whether races are capitalized.

English is clear on that topic. African is capitalized because its a continental descriptor, but black is not because physical descriptors are less important.

Hobgoblin is a race in D&D, but is it a “nationality” or a physical descriptor?

The issue becomes more confused when languages are considered.

In D&D a race’s native language is often just referred to by that race’s name. Elves speak Elven. Hobgoblins speak Goblin.

The simplest way out for me was to just capitalize all races all the time, so I will be attempting to do that as I go forward with the work on Gurutama. This includes Human, Dwarf, Elf, and anything else that would not normally be capitalized in English.

EDIT: I’ve since revised the style choices described above. Please refer to my new post: Style Change

4121 BE: The merfolk came into existence and their god was Drolfo Sitnalta, god of the sea.

4037 BE: Drolfo told his followers to build a city between the islands of the Maw. The merfolk named the city Drolfo’s Cove in honor of their god.

3983 BE: On the island, Rontu-Aru, the great egg mother, Izquitl, needed a perch, so she created Cui-Xoloc, the tallest mountain in the world, to rest upon. Cui-Xoloc rose sheer faced, miles into the sky, dividing the southern island-continent in two. An enormous waterfall sprung off the north side of the mountain, joining the river leading to the ocean.

3837 BE: Izquitl needed beauty and love and blood, so she called up Hrududu, a vast rainforest covering the eastern half of Rontu-Aru. Izquitl needed more, so she started to sing the first song of the world. The many birds of Hrududu listened and when she stopped her song the birds had taken on tall forms and gained intelligence not present in their lesser cousins. The avians took flight.

3734 BE: Into the world came humankind, timid and savage, knowing not from whence they came but living ever in decadent fear of the great fiery abyssal volcano, their own window into the beating heart of the world. The mountains grew up around the humans for their fear of the outside world was even greater than the terror within the inferno.

3654 BE: The dwarves knew that the world came and went in cycles just like the seasons. They knew how to survive the cataclysms and be reborn afterwards. They had buried themselves deep, deep within the earth. The dwarves crawled up out of the dirt and rocks in the mountains in the west. They looked at the new world around them and said, “Oi! Whot’s all this then? The old one was better!”

The dwarven chieftain calmed his people, “Calm thyselves! Have we not read that it takes time for a new world to ripen? We shalt go back into the ground until this Earth is ready for our holy presence.”

“Aye! The chieftain is wise! Into the ground again!”

The dwarves got out their picks and shovels to create a new home in the new world. They would venture out of the mountains once the world “ripened.” For what purpose would they venture out? Only the writing in the Books they preserved between each generation could tell.

A few minor edits, but not much to do for this first part. I’ve considered taking out the parts about physical features of the world, but there’s nothing major here. Besides, what’s the difference between myth and legend for history this old?

-Mister Ed

Next: Gurutama Timeline Revising Part 2