Hammerfast
A dwarven hold cut from the rock of a deep vale in the Dawnforge Mountains. It is one of three dwarven towns in the Eastern Borderlands area, including Hammerholme and Thunderdelve.
Hammerfast is the largest and wealthiest town in the region with a population of around 3,000. The Trade Road runs through the citadel gates and continues eastward beyond the Dawnforge Mountains. Hammerfast is governed by a council of masters, each the leaders of one of the town’s powerful guilds. The current High Master is the leader of the merchant guild, a dwarf named Marsinda Goldspinner. The other council members are Loremaster Geld Seekingstone and the Master Artisan Frelda Blackshield. The Guard and town defense is managed by Tenkar Stoneshield, Lord Commander. The dwarves of Hammerfast look to their own first and don’t give away anything for free, but they are honest and industrious. Hammerfast was built from an ancient dwarven tomb, and interactions and sightings of dwarven and orc ghosts are not uncommon.
Hammerfast was once a necropolis, a collection of tombs where the dwarflords interred their people. As the dwarves’ wealth grew, their burial chambers changed from simple stone sepulchers to lavish treasure vaults filled with the material wealth garnered over a lifetime.
Hammerfast transformed from a graveyard into a storehouse for treasure, and thus it became a target. A hundred years ago, the Bloodspear orc tribe invaded and sacked Hammerfast in the Bloodspear Orc Invasion. The Bloodspear victory was made possible by finding a route to circumvent Sentinel Fortress, which guards the main pass between the Wild Reaches and Eastern Borderlands (also called the Inner Reaches). The Bloodspear Orcs discovered a long forgotten, but more dangerous and narrow pass that passed the (then) abandoned dwarven citadel, Hammerholme and circumvented Sentinel Fortress, and conquered the Hammerfast necropolis, but gained little from it. The orcs killed the priests and warriors tasked with guarding Hammerfast and started to loot the place, but the dwarves’ burial chambers yielded their treasures only grudgingly.
In time, the dwarves returned to Hammerfast. Hammerfast was transformed into a town of the living. It has since grown into the largest and richest settlement in the Dawnforge Mountains.
Yet although Hammerfast has changed, its past lingers on. The remaining sealed tombs stand untouched on pain of death by decree of the Town Council. Ghosts still walk the streets, some of them orc warriors slain in the Bloodspears’ attack, others priests of Moradin or the necropolis's doomed guardians, and even a few of them dwarves laid to rest here long ago.
The guards for the town of Hammerfast itself are better armed and with higher quality armor, including armor scale male with plate over, red under coats with black dragons, dragon helms with bronze dragons and black dragons on plate, with the standard weapons of spears, axes, daggers and crossbows.
Wards
Hammerfast is separated into a Gate Ward, Trade Ward, Craft Ward and the Lore Ward.Gate Ward
Vistors to Hammerfast arrive at the Hammerfast: Gate Ward, a small, walled-off section of the town that once served at the living quarters and garrison for the town's necropolis's living inhabitants. Today, the Gate Ward is Hammerfast's doorstep, a place where visitors and residents mingle to conduct business. A market unities traders from the Inner Reaches with the few travelers from beyond and the Barony of Atlan and Barony of Bortlan. The Hall of Justice reminds the fold of Hammerfast and all its visitors that the dwarves lack any tolerance for troublemakers and criminals, yet this neighborhood is also a haven from smugglers, thieves and rowdies. To many travelers, the Gate Ward is Hammerfast. They have no need, and probably lack permission, to enter the other wards. The rowdiest and most chaotic of the wards, the Gate Ward is the ideal place to go if you are an adventurer seeking a job, a thief in need of a fence, or a hothead in search of a brawl. The town elders accept that some level of illegal activity is inevitable in any settlement. They just hope to keep it confined to the Gate Ward.The Trade Ward
The Hammerfast Trade Ward is the economic heart of Hammerfast. Merchants gather here to buy and sell goods from across the Inner Reaches. Compared to the rowdy, chaotic Gate Ward, the Trade Ward is relatively quiet and sedate. By night, the streets are all but deserted as the traders head home, their goods safely locked away in warehouses. A number of shops and a few high-end inns dominate the neighborhood.The Craft Ward
The Hammerfast: Craft Ward is a mixture of hard work and youthful exuberance, centered around the Craft Spire and the many workshops that surround it. The crafters that live and do business in Hammerfast are based here. In the same way that the Lore Ward serves as a center for scholars, the Craft Ward is home to many experts in weaving, smithing, and other crafts.The Lore Ward
History walks the streets of Hammerfast, so its study is vital to the town’s continued success, which is centered in Hammerfast Lore Ward . The Lore Guild’s first members were the sages who struck the covenant with the gods that allows the dwarves to live in Hammerfast. This history reminds residents of their debt to the guild and to the gods. The guild’s ongoing work produces the knowledge that allows the living residents of Hammerfast to coexist with its ghosts. Students from as far away as Bardic College and University of Atlan come to study with the scholars of the guild, bringing both prestige and income to the town.Soldiers and Guards
There are three main groups of guards and soldiers. The guards for the Gate Ward that greet newcomers and keep law and order wear chain male, gray surcoats with hammer motif, and armed with clubs and crossbows. Most are worshippers of Moradin, and many have his hammer holy symbol as pendants. The guards in the Trade Ward have black surcoats with a gold coin, which is the symbol of the dwarf god Vergadain, and hammers and crossbows. The different gold coins that they wear are:The Guilds
The town’s three guilds—the Trade Guild, the Lore Guild, and the Craft Guild—govern Hammerfast. Each guild elects three members to the Town Council. The Council then elects a High Master. The High Master serves as the town’s executive, overseeing daily functions and managing affairs with other settlements. The consent of a majority of the Council is required to pass a law, and so the guilds constantly forge and break alliances in order to pursue their separate interests. The guild with the most influence over the High Master gains a further advantage in these maneuvers, since the High Master casts the deciding vote in case of ties. Marsinda Goldspinner, the leader of the Trade Guild, has been High Master for four years and shows no inclination to step down. The other guilds are content with this situation as long as the town continues to prosper.Trade Guild
The other guilds rely on the Trade Guild to move their products far and wide. With its control over commerce, the Trade Guild is the most powerful group in Hammerfast. The Trade Guild maintains strong connections with other settlements, including Sentinel Fortress, Hammerholme, Seeker's Reach and Thunderdelve.Craft Guild
The Craft Guild is the largest guild currently active in Hammerfast. For years, the independent miners, prospectors, smiths, and other artisans in Hammerfast negotiated individual contracts with the Trade Guild. The Craft Guild was formed twelve years ago as a way of presenting a unified bargaining front. Since then, the Craft Guild has enjoyed a steady rise in power and wealth, and its membership continues to increase as the town prospers.Lore Guild
Even during the golden age of the Sua Hill Dwarves, the Lore Guild was famous as the repository of dwarven history and lore. The Lore Guild consists of professors, researchers, and sages. As the center of learning in the Inner Reaches and all the dwarven lands of Fultar, Hammerfast attracts students from far and wide. The economic and political advantages that accrue to Hammerfast as the intellectual center of the region, especially after the influx of refugees from the Sua Hills, contribute to the prestige of the Lore Guild. The largest collection of dwarven books know in the human world is stored in the Grand Library. It is a power magnet for sages, historians, and anyone else interested in ancient, especially dwarven, lore. The Head Librarian is Alzar Scrollkeeper. The Lore Spire is also a great center of learning, and a place where dwarves to study history, philosophy, mathematics, engineering, and other subjects. Unlike the Grant Library that is open to the any citizen of Hammerfast and accessible to foreign scholars, the Lore Spire’s library is closely guarded. Enrollment as a student requires noble blood, large contributions, or references from the high and mighty. Rumors persist of dark tomes of blasphemous knowledge.Houses of the Dead
Although some of the tombs in Hammerfast were reduced to rubble by the attacking orcs, most were simply picked clean of their contents. The orcs smashed open coffins, pounded sarcophagi into rubble, and scattered remains across the necropolis. The dwarves rebuilt Hammerfast, keeping as much of the necropolis intact as possible. Most homes and businesses use the same thick-walled, stone structures that once housed the dead. The interiors have been cleaned and reorganized. In some buildings, the original sarcophagi, murals, and other decorations remain. In the summertime, some of the structures become unbearably hot. For this reason, structures in Hammerfast were built downward, not upward. Most families use the first floor of their homes as workshops or for storage, with the basement level set aside for sleeping. Most structures in Hammerfast house several families, each living within a subset of the chambers found in a typical tomb. The tombs that remain intact are off limits. The town guard patrols the necropolis, and anyone caught looting existing tombs faces a death sentence. That doesn’t stop some thieves, and rumors abound of tombs that were looted by thieves despite the vigilance of the town guard. Many folk suspect that even the tombs now used as homes and businesses still hide ancient treasure chambers, hidden passages, and other secrets. Although looting intact tombs is against the law, tombs that have already been opened are fair game.Holidays
Hammerfast celebrates four holidays tied to its history.Dragon’s Day
In the middle of summer, when days are at their hottest, the people of Hammerfast celebrate the defeat of the dragon Calastryx by the wizard Starris in a battle that took place nearly 1000 years ago. The Trade Guild constructs an elaborate puppet of the dragon that stretches nearly 30 feet in length. The puppet leads a parade through town, while the folk of Hammerfast gather along the streets to throw rocks at it. Punching a hole in the puppet is said to bring good luck for the coming year. The parade winds up at the temple of Moradin, where the puppet is cast into a pool of fire.Siege Day
Early in the spring, the residents of Hammerfast set aside a day to remember the attack that devastated the town. The citizens return indoors by sunset, since walking abroad at night is said to bring terrible luck on this particular day. At midnight, a spectral horde of orcs rushes through the streets, reenacting its attack.Founder’s Day
When fall approaches, Hammerfast celebrates the last of the warm days with a great festival. Revelers don elaborate costumes and parade through the streets, and every family in town offers cakes, cookies, and other treats to passersby. Within their costumes, the rich and powerful mix anonymously with the common folk. The offerings of food between neighbors represent the town’s unity.Geography
The town of Hammerfast is located in the Dawnforge Mountains. A host of trolls, hill giants, ogres, and other creatures lurk among the peaks. In the aftermath of the Bloodspear Orc Invasion , these monsters grew bolder and more aggressive. The recent decades have made progress against the dangers of bandits and monsters, but the mountains are anything but safe. The rough terrain, perilous slopes, and bitter cold of the mountains surrounding Hammerfast present equally deadly threats.
The land around Hammerfast is at best rugged, difficult terrain and at worst nearly impenetrable mountain
slopes. Bitter winds sweep across the peaks during the winter. The town slows down only in the darkest days of winter, with the dwarves content to toil in their workshops and other townsfolk hunkering down.
In contrast, the summer months are hot and dry. Wildfires are a risk on the mountain’s wooded slopes, and travelers without knowledge of local springs and streams should carry plenty of water when they venture out of the town. Luckily, the heat keeps most dangerous creatures in their lairs during the day, but travel by night carries a significantly greater risk of encountering monsters or bandits.
Dawnforge Mountains: Legend holds that the Dawnforge Mountains arose when Torog nearly erupted from the Underdark through to the surface of the world, and the peaks’ steep slopes and rocky, forbidding facade support the tale. They stand against the sky, a wall of rock and stone. Most of the mountains are covered with evergreen forests, although the most notable peaks in this region, the Sentinel, Mount Starris (named for the wizard), and Forgepeak, rise above the tree line.
by By Ola Myrin
Holy symbol of Moradin.
Population
3,000
Related Reports (Primary)
The priest of Moradin, Grond Silverstar.
Dwarven ghost.
