Axeforge
Ruler: Baern Battleaxe, Exarch of Axforge in absentia for King Bajor Battleaxe
Economy: Mithril, Iron, Gold, Silver, and Copper mining, refining, smiths the strongest steel axe heads in the world.
Militia: 100 dwarves are always on duty and monitoring The Ruins and valley at any given time. Another 500 dwarves can take up weapons on a moment’s notice. Given enough time to arm and armor a total of 10,000 dwarves can take the field
Points of interest: Enkatastathoún (The Ruin), The Cave of Ruin, The Hall, The Undercity, Grummin’s Gorge, The Depths
The most famous dwarfhold in the north, dwarves recently resettled Axeforge, more properly called Axforge Citadel or The Halls of Clan Battleaxe among dwarves. For centuries, its rich treasures were only legends. This dwarfhold’s mithral lodes are said to be the richest known in the North, and perhaps the richest left anywhere in the world. The citadel proper lies underground, north and west of the Evermore, and east of the Aydin Forest within a mountain peak. Axeforge Citadel is a half-day’s climb east into the mountains from the ruined dwarven village of Enkatastathoún known to most non dwarves simply as The Ruin. The dwarven village was above ground, something rare these days and unheard of in the time of Axeforge Citadel. Built to last, the structures of The Ruin were like giant houses of cards, great slabs of stone cunningly laid together. One enters Axeforge Citadel through a secret door from a high valley. The general location of the door is marked by ancient monoliths that date well before the time that Axeforge Citadel was settled. The Hall has a mazelike upper level designed to divert intruders into traps. The middle level includes mines and smelting furnaces vented through long shafts to the height of the peak. The lower level is where the deepest mines descend from a vast cavern called The Undercity. Here, the walls are studded with the cave mouths of homes for 10,000 dwarves. The homes open onto concentric ledges. The cavern is spanned by a bridge leading east, and eastward passages eventually lead to a huge cavern over 1,000 feet deep known as Grummin’s Gorge. This cavern is spanned by a bridge, forming an excellent defensive barrier for the eastern hall. The bridges lead to a hidden exit on the eastern slopes of the mountain. Over 475 years ago, Clan Battleaxe delved too deeply, breaking into a forlorn place where within the deep gloom of that subterranean cavern the Godswar’s northern General of the forces of chaos, Skiá’Daímonas, emerged from its long transformative slumbers. Freed after thousands of centuries it hungered to spread darkness and evil into the world, wreathed in smoke, shadow and fire it entered Axeforge Citadel, ravaged Clan Battlehammer, and took the Hall as his own. He dwelled therein with his entourage of shadow creatures and friends. Skiá’Daímonas was clever, and his forces attacked with guile, not brute strength. The Duergar of Clan Ilithios, hearing of the return of Skiá’Daímonas struck a deal with the creature and they occupied the Hall and worked its mines until the year Bajor Battleaxe returned to slay Skiá’Daímonas and clear out The Depths. The following year he returned again with his clan, drove out the duergar, and proclaimed himself the Twentieth King of Axeforge Citadel, Lord of the Peak and The Depths. Later he would play a pivotal role in The Godswar and continue to assist the children of House Kin in the centuries which followed. Today Bajor Battleaxe sits on The Adamant Throne as the dwarven King above equals in The North. From Adamant Hall he guides all major decisions concerning his people however the day to day custodianship of his ancestral home has fallen to his brother Baern, the Exarch of Axforge. The dwarves of the Hall have grown continually more suspicious of uninvited guests over the years and only those who trade with the dwarves are advised to go there. A watch is kept over The Ruins, whose massive stone buildings still provide shelter to travelers, explorers, and monsters. Since the re-opening of Axeforge Citadel, the dwarves have quietly disappeared from most other towns, villages and cities, presumably seeking better lives under the rule of King Bajor Battleaxe swelling The Undercity to capacity and forcing the necessity to build Adamant Hall.
Type
City
Location under
