The Thunder Road

"The Thunder Road was our ancestors greatest achievement, the greatest mining and construction effort ever undertaken. Thirty miles long, and wide enough for thirty dwarves to march down each side shoulder to shoulder, there's nothing that compares to it in size or scale, and in it's heyday, it was filled with life."

"Once, the road was lined with active holds, wagons rumbled up and down it's length all day, and vendors of all sorts would set up shop in the broad median. Today, it's lined with the shells of dead holds serving as mausoleums for the lost clans within, and a trip down it is a reminder of our failings, and a chance to reflect on those who have been lost."

- Khesgrut Steelcloak, Shieldbearer Captain

Overview

The Thunder Road, as both the only known route through the Shield Mountains to the lands to the east and as a spectacular feat of engineering, is a place of both practical and cultural significance to the dwarves of the Shield Mountains.

History

In a forgotten age, the dwarves of The Shield Mountains undertook a construction project which was titanic in both ambition and scale; a tunnel running straight through The Shield Mountains, providing a reliable path for freight and people to move between the eastern and western sides of the island. This passage became know as "The Thunder Road" after the great thunder lizards which moved up and down it hauling caravans.

Before the Serpentfolk

The Thunder Road was the beating heart of the Shield Mountains, caravans moving up and down it regularly, moving goods both between holds and on the first leg of their journey to lands to the east. The holds which were built along the road were among the most prominent and wealthy, taking advantage of their prime positions to become trading powerhouses.

The Reign of the Serpentfolk

When the serpentfolk sacked the Sunset City and it's citadel and entered The Shield Mountains, their goal was to secure the Thunder Road for their own use, and the holds lining the Thunder Road fell one after another. By the time the serpentfolk finished securing the thunder road, it was lined with the burned out and desecrated shells of once great holds.

After the Cataclysm

As the dwarves reclaimed their lost territory in the wake of the disappearance of the serpentfolk, the decision was made not to repopulate the dead holds, both due to their much reduced population and out of respect to the dead, effectively leaving the dead holds as mausoleums for the extinct clans which once filled the Thunder Road with life.

Modern Times

Today, the trip down the Thunder Road is a somber one, a thirty mile trip past the empty shells of dead holds. These dead holds are beginning to pose a problem to the security of the road, as hostile creatures begin to populate their vast empty spaces, either finding their way in through the darklands or spawning due to the vile serpentfolk magic which still permeates some of the holds.

Construction

Thirty miles long and two hundred fifty feet across, the Thunder Road stands as a spectacular feat of engineering and construction. A broad, fifty foot wide median seperates two one hundred foot wide lanes under a seventy foot tall vaulted ceiling. In the golden age of the road, merchants of all sorts would set up stalls in high traffic areas of the road, and fully manned forts were spaced out every few miles, more to provide aid to travellers than out of any real expectation that there would be trouble. Today, with the journey becoming more perilous, the forts are all fully manned and prepared to go to the aid of any travellers who might get into trouble.

Notable NPCs

Khesgrut Steelcloak

A Captain in the Shieldbearers, Khesgrut's most common assignment is to accompany caravans along the Thunder Road. He has long black hair tied back in braids and his beard is tied with a section of silver inlaid thunder lizard bone. He wears fairly standard Shieldbearer armor with bone inlays in the pauldrons and gauntlets, which have been intricately engraved. He's a member of the Steelcloak clan from Irongleam Hold, a clan well known for their service in the Shieldbearers.

Notable Locations

The Eastern Gates

Forming the rear wall of the Sunrise Citadel, the western end of the Thunder Road terminates in an impressive fortification, designed as the final layer of defense for the citadel. A massive set of doors, each a Hundred Feet tall and seventy feet wide, are set into the fortification. The fortification is designed in multiple seperate layers to ensure that a breach from the outside won't compromise the entire defensive structure.

Cinderhearth Hold

An ancient but abandoned hold, the dwarves of Cinderhearth Hold were once known for their smithing prowess, and made a great fortune selling their creations to outsiders, having major holdings in the Sunrise City and keeping their mighty forges running day and night. A large magma flow was drawn up from the darklands and used to fuel massive forges which could be kept running nonstop with no worry about fuel.

When the serpentfolk broke through into the Thunder Road, the dwarves of Cinderhearth Hold were determined to prevent them from moving any further than their hold, and made a valiant stand. They held out for longer than any other hold, but eventually the fell magic and seemingly limitless armies of the serpentfolk prevailed and the hold was taken and sacked, the dwarves within slaughtered to a dwarf. Seemingly out of spite, the serpentfolk cursed the hold, saturating it with foul magic which has resisted the efforts of the other clans to cleanse to this day.

Today, the stretch of the Thunder Road which runs by the ruins of Cinderhearth Hold is one of the most dangerous stretches of the road. Despite the best efforts of the Shieldbearers, vile creatures regularly repopulate the hold, threatening travelers moving through the area.

The Player's Perspective

Entering The Road

As you pass through the massive doors, a truly breathtaking sight stretches out before you. You've entered a cavernous space, well over two hundred feet wide with a vaulted ceiling seventy feet tall, but it's the third dimension which takes your breath away. Seperated into two sides with a fifty foot wide median, the Thunder Road stretches out into the distance, running for as far as you can see before it disappears over the horizon. Large glass lanterns lit by continual flames are placed as regular intervals, providing dim illumination across its entire expanse, and becoming tiny pinpricks of light as you look further down the road.

Approaching the first fort

As you move down the road, a structure appears in the median, and as you draw closer, it resolves itself into a squat fort, as broad as it is tall. thick walls topped by overhanging crenelations. Armored dwarves man the battlements, siege engines dot the top of the walls, and from it's position in the median it can control the entire width of the road.

Continuing down the road

As you travel, you encounter a fort every mile or so, but other than the forts, the road is empty. Occasionally there will be the remnants of a structure in the median, and the entrances to abandoned holds gape like open wounds in the sides of the road at regular intervals, the shattered remnants of their gates flanked by destroyed and defaced statues.

Passing Cinderhearth Hold

The carvings and decorations in this portion of the road are different, more ornate and with certain sigils and symbols becoming more prominent, particularly the symbol of a burning fire in a stone hearth, spitting embers into the air. The temperature in the tunnel rises as you move further down the road, and the entrances to small holds have disappeared entirely, the tunnel walls unbroken for quite a distance. Ahead, you can see something large built into the walls of both sides of the road.

Framing the road on both sides is the entrance to a hold, but one which makes the others which you have seen pale in comparison. The gaping hole where the doors once stood is thirty feet across and forty feet tall, with the carvings around them taking up another ten feet on all sides. While the carvings and statuary in the lower portions have been utterly obliterated, in the higher portions the destruction is less complete, and it's clear that the carvings are the work of masters. Incredibly detailed renditions of dwarves hammering at anvils or presenting their creations to the gods can be seen between patches of shattered stone. A dim glow can be seen from deep within the hold along with a faint sulphurous smell, and the air coming from it is signifigantly hotter than the air in the tunnel.

Location under

The Shield Mountains

Owning Organization

The Shield Mountain Dwarves