Fremennik

The Fremennik are a group of humans who live primarily in the Fremennik Province, in northern Gielinor. All humans across Gielinor originated from the Fremennik.

They are not one unified group, but rather several different groups that have split-off over time. These groups tend to fight with each other as well as amongst themselves, often for trivial reasons. The Fremennik are also in conflict with the magical Moon Clan of Lunar Isle, because of a difference of opinion when it comes to Runecrafting. The Fremennik do not approve of the crafting of runes, and think that humans should only use the runes they were given by the gods. The tension between the two clans is lessened during the Lunar Diplomacy quest.

The player character becomes an honorary Fremennik after completing The Fremennik Trials quest, and is given a Fremennik name that other Fremennik will use when addressing the player (if the player is wearing a Ring of Charos(a), they may change their name at random by speaking to Brundt the Chieftain). Players may speak with the villagers and find out a lot more about them. The ability to purchase and wear Fremennik armour is also made available after completing the trials. During The Fremennik Exiles, the player is temporarily exiled, though only the Fremennik of Rellekka recognise this; the islands of Neitiznot, Jatizso, Miscellania, and Etceteria do not.

The Fremennik are direct descendants of the humans Guthix brought with him from the original human realm when he was populating Gielinor in the First Age. They were once made up of various clans. They lived a simple life, hunting the local animals, fishing, and travelling throughout the Fremennik Province so as not to exhaust the land's rich resources. At some point in the Fourth Age or early Fifth Age, the Fremennik people abandoned their nomadic way of life, creating the village of Rellekka. While this greatly improved life for most Fremennik, some disagreed with this new way of living. They wanted to live closer to nature, and felt like the people of Rellekka had grown too complacent and too reliant on tools rather than skill. They also disagreed with the use of magic and felt that their seer was an affront to the gods, although both groups do share the same views on the sanctity of runestones.^[1] These people left the Fremenniks, grouping together to form the Mountain Tribe, taking with them the Ancient Rock that symbolized the Fremennik's refusal to use runestones.^[2]

Back in the Second Age,^[3] the Fremennik seer V founded the Moon Clan after he discovered the Stone of Jas in a cave on Lunar Isle.^[4] Touching the stone had unlocked something in his mind and given him great power.^[5] V used his newfound power to become one of the Fremennik's greatest heroes.^[6] He also discovered the art of runecrafting and travelled across the world with his followers constructing altars at places of power.^[7][8] To this day, the Fremennik respect V as a hero rather than worship him as a god, and believe he earned the right to use magic, unlike the rest of the Moon Clan.

The relationship between Moon Clan and the other Fremennik groups was still good at this time, however many Fremennik began to disagree on the subject of runecrafting.^[9][10] Some Fremennik believed that since runes were a gift from the gods, crafting them was blasphemy, while others believed that they should craft runes and use magic to better themselves.^[11][12] Eventually, the disagreement came to blows, and the Moon Clan were expelled from the rest of the Fremennik.^[13][14] This animosity was also accentuated in part by the Clan's refusal to reveal the secrets of the unique magicks they had created. The Moon Clan thereafter lived in isolation on Lunar Isle, where their magical abilities advanced to the point that they no longer required runes to channel their unique magic.^[15]

The rediscovery of Runecrafting marked the start of the Fifth Age. Decades later, the Fremenniks learned about the humans crafting and using runes throughout Gielinor, and the warlord Gunnar of the Mountain Tribe decided to muster an army of similarly-minded Fremenniks to put a stop to the crafting of runes.^[16] The Gunnarians first attacked the Moon Clan, forcing them back to Lunar Isle. Only after this initial success did the Gunnarians move on to invade Kandarin, Asgarnia, and Misthalin.^[17] As the Gunnites moved south, their highest priority was the destruction of the runic altars, the source of their ire. Though they worked to destroy all known altars, they lacked the knowledge necessary to do so properly; in reality, they only succeeded in destroying the entrances to the altars, leaving the altars themselves unscathed.^[18] Moreover, they were unable to destroy all the runic altars; the Ourania altar and the Astral Altar survived unscathed.

Even though the Gunnarians had many successful offensives, they were forced to make peace due to unsustainable losses. The last few living Gunnarians established a new home near River Lum, now called Barbarian Village, with the intention of resuming their crusade after taking some time to recover their strength.^[19] However, any future plans of further crusades seem to have been discarded, and many of the children born in the Barbarian Village have since left the settlement entirely.^[20] Nevertheless, the barbarians, as well as the Mountain Tribe, still reject the usage of magic.

• Rellekka, the main Fremennik settlement
• The Fremennik Isles, consisting of Neitiznot and Jatizso
• Miscellania and Etceteria, former Fremennik colonies that have turned independent
• Lunar Isle, formed by ex-Fremenniks: the Moon Clan
• Mountain Camp, the settlement of the Mountain Tribe who split off from the Fremenniks
• Barbarian Village, formed at the end of the Runecrafting Crusades by the Gunnarians who split off from the Mountain Tribe
• The Barbarian Outpost, formed by Fremennik barbarians fighting against the Penance creatures in Barbarian Assault
• Barbarian Camp, a small settlement formed by Fremenniks who travelled to Great Kourend
• Sunset Coast, a village mostly inhabited by Fremenniks who travelled from Rellekka to Varlamore
• The Fishing Hamlet, which was mysteriously wiped out after Fremenniks from Rellekka settled amongst the locals and fished up a snakestone

• V-------
• Brundt the Chieftain
• Mawnis Burowgar
• King Gjuki Sorvott IV
• King Vargas
• Queen Sigrid
• King Neitiznot
• King Jatizso
• Hamal the Chieftain
• Asleif Hamalsdotter
• Swensen the Navigator
• Koschei the Deathless
• Thorvald the Warrior
• Sigmund the Merchant
• Sigli the Huntsman
• Manni the Reveller
• Lokar Searunner
• Olaf the Bard
• Peer the Seer
• Freja

• Most (but not all) of the Fremennik have traditional names with roots in old Norse.
• The Fremennik believe in Valhalla, the afterlife from Norse mythology where those who die in battle end up.
• The Fremennik also believe in Ragnarök, which they refer to as the End of Things. Their prophecies say the End of Things will begin after the Serpent King is freed, which happens during the events of The Fremennik Exiles quest.
• The humans who settled in Daimon's Crater may have been Fremennik, as multiple Fremennik boats can be seen washed ashore on the west of the island, as well as a ruined boat which is located at the northern tip of the island.
• The Fremennik evidently have their own language/writing system, which can be discovered when examining the safety guarantee used in the quest Mountain Daughter. The document examines as: "The strange characters supposedly grant Svidi (a representative of the Mountain Tribe) safe passage into Rellekka."