Birth of the Krog
The krog tell the tale of how their race was born thus:
The first krog was Krog'an, whose name means Strong One. Krog'an was the child of Sky and Ground, born when Sky threw an immense rock at Ground.* The rock smashed open a great wound in Ground that bled fire, and from the fiery wound rose Krog'an. Krog'an wandered the world, but it was empty and Krog'an was alone. Sky would not answer Krog'an's challenges and was too far away to strike, and the Ground would not answer either, and though it was close enough to be struck it offered no resistance, and as such brought Krog'an little satisfaction to do so. Sometimes Krog'an would strike deep into Ground and make it bleed fire and new gods and monsters would be born from the fiery wounds, but these were lesser creatures and thus poor company for Krog'an. Finally, Krog'an one day decided to give birth to children that would be worthy.*** From Krog'an were born the Kroggloth, the giants of stone. When they were grown, the Kroggloth turned upon their mother and fought with great ferocity. Krog'an fought her children with joy and smashed many of their stone bodies, spilling their fiery molten guts onto the earth. Some of the weaker and more cowardly Kroggloth fled away into the wilds to give birth to the other, weakling races. After smashing most of the Kroggloth dead, Krog'an was tired and she lay on the earth to nap. From the broken remains of the slain Kroggloth, the first krog arose, their bodies made of stone and their guts made of fire. The largest of the first krog, Gog, wanted to attack Krog'an again, though many knew this would mean doom for their race. The second largest of the first krog, Zog, was wiser than his brother Gog and warned that their race must live, for if they died the world would belong to the monsters and weaklings that their reckless mother had unleashed. They would have to defeat Krog'an with cunning rather than brute strength. Gog did not like the idea of this, but in the end relented and followed his brother's scheme. The krog began to dig a great pit underneath Krog'an as she slept, digging down deeper and deeper. The krog dug for many years without cease, finding great treasures and monsters and buried evil things, until they had dug out a massive hollow leading straight to the burning heart of the world. Finally, Gog clambered onto his mother's face, gave a great bellow, and jumped up and down on her as hard as he could until the ground beneath her began to break. Krog'an awoke just as Gog jumped clear, and the ground beneath her gave way and she fell hollering and screaming into the fiery heart of the world. Zog called out to the rock and earth that had been dug out by the krog and bade it jump in after Krog'an, burying her alive. Before she was covered up, Krog'an bellowed out a curse upon her children; their own children would be soft and weak and become the prey and slaves of every other beast and monster and creature in the world. Because of this curse, the children of the first krog did not inherit the mighty stone bodies of their parents, but were born smaller with bodies made of flesh and blood. The first krog were angry with Krog'an's curse and many thought to slay their weakling children, some from shame, others to spare them Krog'an's further prophecy of slavery and torment, for the world was indeed full of monsters and other races whose numbers were growing. The krog children heard the muttering of their stone parents, and like their sires had done they dug great pits underneath them, dropping them to be buried beneath the earth. As their parents fell bellowing into the ground, the krog children told them they would break the curse of Krog'an, and with strength and cunning they would not be made slaves or sport for anything in the world, but that instead they would conquer the world and everything in it instead. *To this day, in most tribes it is considered an act of romantic overture for a krog to hit their beloved with a rock.** If the rock kills the object of their desire, it was never meant to be. **Generally this only applies between krog. If krog are throwing rocks at non-krog (typically this happens via catapult or war-engine during a siege) it's probably an act of pure violence (although not always; ref. to the myth of 'Burnholdt the Unlucky and the Krog-Wife'). ***Most traditions hold that Krog'an was female, for no male krog has ever been able to give birth, no matter how hard they've tried (at least not yet). Some versions of the myth maintain that Krog'an was a male and gave birth anyway, because you never can tell with gods.
The first krog was Krog'an, whose name means Strong One. Krog'an was the child of Sky and Ground, born when Sky threw an immense rock at Ground.* The rock smashed open a great wound in Ground that bled fire, and from the fiery wound rose Krog'an. Krog'an wandered the world, but it was empty and Krog'an was alone. Sky would not answer Krog'an's challenges and was too far away to strike, and the Ground would not answer either, and though it was close enough to be struck it offered no resistance, and as such brought Krog'an little satisfaction to do so. Sometimes Krog'an would strike deep into Ground and make it bleed fire and new gods and monsters would be born from the fiery wounds, but these were lesser creatures and thus poor company for Krog'an. Finally, Krog'an one day decided to give birth to children that would be worthy.*** From Krog'an were born the Kroggloth, the giants of stone. When they were grown, the Kroggloth turned upon their mother and fought with great ferocity. Krog'an fought her children with joy and smashed many of their stone bodies, spilling their fiery molten guts onto the earth. Some of the weaker and more cowardly Kroggloth fled away into the wilds to give birth to the other, weakling races. After smashing most of the Kroggloth dead, Krog'an was tired and she lay on the earth to nap. From the broken remains of the slain Kroggloth, the first krog arose, their bodies made of stone and their guts made of fire. The largest of the first krog, Gog, wanted to attack Krog'an again, though many knew this would mean doom for their race. The second largest of the first krog, Zog, was wiser than his brother Gog and warned that their race must live, for if they died the world would belong to the monsters and weaklings that their reckless mother had unleashed. They would have to defeat Krog'an with cunning rather than brute strength. Gog did not like the idea of this, but in the end relented and followed his brother's scheme. The krog began to dig a great pit underneath Krog'an as she slept, digging down deeper and deeper. The krog dug for many years without cease, finding great treasures and monsters and buried evil things, until they had dug out a massive hollow leading straight to the burning heart of the world. Finally, Gog clambered onto his mother's face, gave a great bellow, and jumped up and down on her as hard as he could until the ground beneath her began to break. Krog'an awoke just as Gog jumped clear, and the ground beneath her gave way and she fell hollering and screaming into the fiery heart of the world. Zog called out to the rock and earth that had been dug out by the krog and bade it jump in after Krog'an, burying her alive. Before she was covered up, Krog'an bellowed out a curse upon her children; their own children would be soft and weak and become the prey and slaves of every other beast and monster and creature in the world. Because of this curse, the children of the first krog did not inherit the mighty stone bodies of their parents, but were born smaller with bodies made of flesh and blood. The first krog were angry with Krog'an's curse and many thought to slay their weakling children, some from shame, others to spare them Krog'an's further prophecy of slavery and torment, for the world was indeed full of monsters and other races whose numbers were growing. The krog children heard the muttering of their stone parents, and like their sires had done they dug great pits underneath them, dropping them to be buried beneath the earth. As their parents fell bellowing into the ground, the krog children told them they would break the curse of Krog'an, and with strength and cunning they would not be made slaves or sport for anything in the world, but that instead they would conquer the world and everything in it instead. *To this day, in most tribes it is considered an act of romantic overture for a krog to hit their beloved with a rock.** If the rock kills the object of their desire, it was never meant to be. **Generally this only applies between krog. If krog are throwing rocks at non-krog (typically this happens via catapult or war-engine during a siege) it's probably an act of pure violence (although not always; ref. to the myth of 'Burnholdt the Unlucky and the Krog-Wife'). ***Most traditions hold that Krog'an was female, for no male krog has ever been able to give birth, no matter how hard they've tried (at least not yet). Some versions of the myth maintain that Krog'an was a male and gave birth anyway, because you never can tell with gods.
Historical Basis
When a krog population reaches a certain point, the krog birthing cycle undergoes a radical change. Krog females begin to birth larger litters of young, with most young being the lesser breed of krog known as kroglin. Kroglin are significantly smaller and weaker than true krog, and many even suffer reduced mental capacity. Kroglin are often pressed into hard labor in farming, harvesting lumber, or mining ore in order to prove their worth as strength for the krog race as a whole, since they cannot earn individual strength.
Most krog hold that the birth of kroglin are a mark of the Curse of Krog'an, and a reminder that the krog must hold to their oath to conquer and subdue the world and all its creatures to avoid disaster for their race.
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