This is some old stuff that I worked on for a DnD world that I was making. This lore is incomplete and hardly proofread. The world mostly defunct now but I would like to revisit it someday. In the meantime, this is at least an example of some of my worldbuilding stuff that I actually remember to write down.

The Durandalian Holy Hand are a group of six elite masked soldiers sworn to protect Durandala and the Excaliferous Font from high-risk targets and incidents. All six wear full-face masks and helmets to conceal their identities. The only member to ever address the public is Gabriella, Ram of the Queen - leader of the Holy Hand and one of only two who speak common. While they are normally a sparsely dispatched strike team throughout the year, the Awoken Breath is their core purpose - the threat of Awoken upon the holy capital is far too great, and as such, they are the ground force commanders who protect the city, leading the Divine Guard of Durandala through the streets, protecting civilians from the beings from beyond the Veil. While they do normally give command throughout the year to the Divine Guard, the breath is when they actually go boots-on-the-ground and lead the guard on foot. Gabriella takes command from beneath the Excaliferous Font.

The Holy Hand bear a secret which none must ever know outside of them and the gods. Every member of the Holy Hand are precursors - beings presumed long extinct and forgotten from before the Awakening. Formed of nydarin and tarrenians, each of them is immortal in age and possess immense power alongside an potentially debilitating psychic weakness, if their mental defence is breached. nydarin and tarrenians are the original humanoids, each having three “threads” from which grew the modern - but mortal - world of beings we know today.

Tarrenians

Tarrenians are people of the earth and the land, nigh-extinct siblings of the nydarin, and ancestors to dwarf, goliath and orc alike. Previously ruled by the god Renak, the Awakening resulted in a terrible fate, causing them to go near-extinct. Now, only a few Tarrenian exist. People of strong, hearty stock, Tarrenians value strength, feats of endurance and being the loudest, most forceful voice on a battlefield, and as such many found themselves climbing mountains, forming fighter guilds and giving moving, aggressively emotional political speeches. Tarrenians also have a deep love for the underground and its vastness, and tend to find natural comfort and solitude beneath the surface. Tarrenians speak Tarren, a harsh but evocative language of strong sounds and concatenated words. Tarren has an extensive amount of adjectives, many which Common speakers would consider redundant and overlapping, but long history and cultural significance is tied to each one, for each is sparked by the different cultures as to feelings during the event when the word was made, and as such, emotional sentences can be conveyed complexly through the combination of multiple adjectives and subsequent affixing to a single word for “feel.” Tarren is written in what became the modern Dwarvish alphabet.

Example (in Common alphabet, as true to written as possible (a sentence is one “word” in tarren, so it is displayed as such here)): Tan’raGrüllJan’raiBrek’naLeddSchlef-hem.

Now, with some breakup lines for reader clarity:
Tan'ra|Grüll|Jan'rai|Brek'na|Ledd|Schlef - hem

This translates to "{I am} heartbroken at the loss of your brother, {I shall} truly pray for our finest warrior to have a comfortable rest."

  • Tan’ra - orc word for heartbreak, gut-wrenching sorrow. Comes from the day unanimously-loved orcish leader Tan, the Peak Carver committed a shock suicide after being driven to insanity by an ancient artefact found in the mountains.
  • Grüll - a goliath word for death in combat. Named after Grüll, the first goliath tarrenian to be recorded to die in battle, albeit honourably. Fell while protecting daughter from a dire-wolf horde. Respectful word which carries honour and weight - Grüll was found dead amongst the corpses of approximately one hundred dire wolves, and his daughter survived thanks to his efforts.
  • Jan’rai - a tarrenian word for brother - a gender neutral friendly greeting between sexes, but also a formal term when addressing someone about a brother they have.
  • Brek’na - an orcish word for prayer - a prayer of hope specifically. Brek’na was a notable orcish witch who offered blessings to warriors pre-hunt, for survival, a successful hunt, or a glorious fight. Her name lived on beyond her willing ritual burning - early precursor orcish culture tried to shun their immortality for as long as possible, so they burned themselves after a culturally ordained period of time to signify their belief in a complete life having been led.
  • Ledd - a goliath word for warrior - meant incredibly respectfully. Ledd was the first to succeed in uniting the goliath tribes as a people, by besting each leader in combat to just before deadly defeat before showing mercy - his vision was one of life and success, not one of murder for a false crown. Ledd then proceeded to best the orc and dwarf leaders in combat in order to prove the goliath people were worthy. Considered the saving grace of goliath tarrenians, Ledd commanded the goliath until he left to live peacefully on coasts far away.
  • Schlef - dwarvish word meaning “rest well forever” - named after Schlefston, the first rock ever carved into a dwarven tomb. Schlefston has various interpretations as to why it was named as such, but none is definite amongst dwarf culture.
  • hem - ending word in tarrenian, means the sentence comes from you. the exhalation is believed to convoke the words into power and meaning, and them impress them upon the world.

Nydarin

Nydarin are the first children of long-forgotten divines and ancestors to human, elf, and celestan alike. Nydarin are considered mythical beings by the seldom few who even know of their history, presumed extinct and played up as magical god-kin who craft utopia out of only word and time. The few nydarin which walk the surface of Cimmeris do so with as few knowing of their origin as possible. People of great creative gift, nydarin craft grand structures, incredible arcane incantations and beautiful holy practices day in and day out. Both lovers of legacy and forerunners in creation, nydarin differ from their tarrenian siblings in they appreciate the passage of time more. Their love for construction, prayer and artistry in the material, arcane and divine is only refined by their slow paced lives, where emphasis on loving oneself is placed at the core of their path in life.