Nargila, City of Blades

Nargila is the strongest duergar settlement in Undermountain, and arguably in all of Kelibyr. The ceiling is perpetually covered with thick, reeking smoke that rises from the city’s countless forges and smelters. The duergar smiths who live here turn out quality weapons and armor of all kinds, and the City of Blades earned its name because of its reputation for quality wares. Most of these are for trade, and their largest trading partners are the other settlements of Kelibyr.
Below Ironback Peak at a depth of 5 miles, the bustling duergar city of Nargila straddles a narrow rift known as Laduguer’s Furrow. The south end of the settlement is a pebbly beach on the Darklake. Nargila proper is a huge city, but its various outlying districts and fungus fields occupy the tunnels for miles around.
With the absence of their Sister, Nargila’s magical defenses are weak. However, the city boasts the best army in Undermountain - thousands of trained veterans armed and armored with superior dwarven steel. Tarngardt Steelshadow, Horgar’s predecessor, was not interested in expanding through conquest, but Horgar has chosen to set a different course. He took advantage of Razal Synn’s silence by launching a mighty invasion of the Labyrinth, subjugating many of the minotaur clans that lived there.
At first glance, Nargila seems like Hell’s own foundry. The main cavern is dominated by colossal stalagmites that have been hollowed out and converted into great stinking smelters. The city glows with firelight and the ruddy yellow gleam of hot iron at all times, and the air is filled with hissing steam, reeking smoke, and the endless clanging of hammers. The folk of Nargila practice many trades besides smithwork, but the heart of the city is the working of metal.
The red dragon Themberchaud, known as the Wyrmsmith of Nargila, keeps the forges of the city hot with his fiery breath. An order of duergar clerics tends to the red dragon and guards his hoard while he slithers around the city, blasting the forges to life with his flame. In return for this magnanimous service, Themberchaud’s hoard is regularly fattened, and he feasts on ill-tempered slaves.
Nargila is a city of endless toil. Each trade or craft practiced in the city is the domain of a specific clan. Important trades such as foundry work are the province of several competing clans, but other clans working at less important (or necessary) tasks often consist of a few dozen craftsfolk at best. The families that govern each clan comprise the city’s nobility, and the leader of a clan is known as a laird. Unlike surface Houses, duergar clans do not engage in endless vendettas and schemes of advancement; gray dwarves who find themselves at the bottom of the pecking order tend to resign themselves to their fate or work harder to advance, rather than plotting to pull down their betters.
The power in Nargila lies somewhere with the lairds of the great clans (particularly the merchant clans), the throne, and the scheming derro savants that live within the city. Horgar intends to take up the reins of rulership with a firm, unwavering grasp, and reclaim the power that his grandfathers wielded in bygone years. Naturally, the great lairds and the derro have no wish to see him succeed. And none forget that the Sisters are the true rulers of thier kingdom.

Type

Large city

Location under

Undermountain