Deep Hall Overthrow
The Deep Hall Overthrow was a coup perpetrated by the followers of Toldrun against the Deep King in the dwarven city of Gel Eamoni, now known as the Holy City of Toldrun.
For several weeks and months prior to this putsch, the Toldrunites had been advocating for deeper mining, citing dreams and messages from Toldrun that there would be untold riches just below where the city was currently digging. The Deep King refused these suggestions, on the grounds of public safety. They were already mining pretty deep, and legends from the past confirmed that digging too deep would awaken all kinds of nightmares for the city. Though Gel Eamoni and its kingdom of Forgsberg were not poor by any means, the Toldrunites believed they could become the richest nation in the world with the added wealth from deeper mining.
Eventually, after several weeks of this argument playing out in public hearings, the Deep King invited the leaders of the Toldrunite faction for a hearing with him and his council to discuss the issues in depth. On the 22nd of Fomar Dar, this hearing took place behind closed doors. Much of what happened is hotly debated and contested between the Toldrunites and the very few surviving functionaries of the court. At some point, the discussion turned heated and quickly rose to violence. Before calmer heads could prevail, one of the Toldrunites made a quick dash toward the Deep King and killed him before the guards could intervene. In the ensuing chaos, the Toldrunites killed the rest of the council and the Deep King's guards, as well as most of the court servants and functionaries present. They intended to kill everyone there, and the two courtiers that escaped did so by using trickery and quick thinking to get out a hidden back door.
According to the Toldrunites, the Deep King repeatedly besmirched their deity and said they were all fools for believing such tripe. When the Toldrunites took offense, the Deep King continued his insults toward them, calling them idiots and gullible fools who would ruin the entire kingdom for a few gold pieces. Allegedly, the Deep King's guards then began to violently shepherd the Toldrunites out of the hall. This turned into a bit of a melee with the Toldrunites refusing to leave, and somehow in the chaos of the following battle the Deep King was slain, with his council and many of his courtiers.
The story the escaped courtiers tell is much different. At this meeting, the Deep King tried to make all manner of concessions to the Toldrunites to appease them. He suggested spreading out the city's mining horizontally to find more veins and wealth, but the Toldrunites insisted the mining had to be deeper. He suggested opening a single narrow passage that would be heavily guarded, so the Toldrunites and their trusted miners could venture into the deeper parts. But the Toldrunites insisted that the city's entire mining industry must be pushed deeper and that they required the full brunt of the kingdom's military to protect them in the deeper realms. As the Toldrunites grew more visibly frustrated by what they perceived as stonewalling by the Deep King, they began to get heated and started yelling, accusing the Deep King of all manner of horrible offenses. As the guards moved to protect the Deep King, one of the Toldrunites rushed past the defenses and slayed the Deep King with one swift swipe of his axe. As this happened, hell broke loose in the chamber as the guards tried to shuffle the council out of the chamber, while the Toldrunites tried to kill everyone there. The two functionaries who told this version of events were luckily stationed further away from the council table, and as they saw the violence unfolding they slipped out a secret servants' door and made their way to safety.
Regardless of the exact events, the consequences and aftermath of the Deep Hall Overthrow are not contested. The Toldrunites seized control of the city, initially citing a mandate from the Deep King before eventually (after several days) admitting the Deep King was dead and they were in charge. They issued an ultimatum to the city's inhabitants: convert to the faith of Toldrun or leave the city immediately and be branded as exiles. Almost half of the city's 43,000 people left as quickly as they could, heading north and south to neighboring kingdoms. After a few days, the new Toldrunite leadership branded anyone who did not accept Toldrun as a heretic that must be found and executed. And thus, the Inquisitors were created and tasked with ferreting out any dissent in the city and the kingdom.
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