Roldilar Roldilar , or the Realm of Glimmering Swords , was a shield dwarf kingdom that occupied the lands later known as the Vast , between Cormanthyr and Impiltur in north Faerûn , both below and above ground . It was founded in 610 DR and fell in 649 DR . History . The rise of Roldilar . Formerly , the land had been held by the orc nation of Vastar , but it fell into civil war in the Year of Writhing Darkness , 572 DR . Meanwhile , underground , dwarves from the north and east expanded their mines into the mountains of Vastar . After initial clashes with the orcs in their tunnels , the dwarves decided to let no orc who ' d seen a dwarf remain alive , to prevent any word reaching orcish chieftains of their nature of their enemy . The dwarves were subtly aided by the downtrodden goblin and kobold slaves of the orcs : the dwarves left them alone , and so they never told the orcs about the dwarves they saw , nor helped them in battle . The unexplained deaths of large numbers of orcs in the mountains were blamed on the civil war . Even as the civil war ended , the dwarves continued to encroach from the west , spreading underground and applying increasing pressure on the orcs . Working with humans and elves , the dwarves secretly developed a steel toxic to orcs , and succeeded with the metal they called " orcslayer " . Lord Tuir Stonebeard requested over a thousand orcslayer weapons and , working hard over several years , Master Smith Fyrfar Smokebeard forged them and High Old One Turbaern , aided by the human mage Beldossan and the elven sorceress Aleratha Ilnatar , enchanted them . Among these was the short sword " Sarghathuld " , forged in the Year of the Many Serpents , 605 DR and given to the dwarven warrior Ulnorn . Armed with these weapons , the dwarves surged out of the mountains to " run in waist - high riot across the land " ( according to the sage Fairin Icemantle , who wrote the only first - hand account of the conflict ) and slaughter the orcs . Vastar fell in the Year of the Spellfire , 610 DR , Orc - King Grimmerfang was slain , and the survivors were driven north and south into the mountain peaks . The Realm of Glimmering Swords . The victorious dwarves claimed the surface lands for themselves and that same year they founded the kingdom of Roldilar . Now Deep King , Tuir Stonebeard held court from beneath Mount Grimmerfang , which had once been the base of the orcish kings . They began construction of a secure trading center , Sarbreen , at the mouth of the Fire River , around the Year of the Normiir , 611 DR . It was finished in the Year of the Ensorceled Kings , 616 DR , and thrived as the " Gate to the Vast " . The defensive outpost of Sarbreenar followed , controlling access through the mountains . The dwarves also occupied the ruined city of Ylraphon , once an orcish holding . As the northernmost port in the Vast , it was a valuable location and the dwarves developed a town there . The Roldilarren dwarves set to work trading with other nations and developing their new land , building stone towers to watch it and importing livestock to fill it . Their logging industry cleared forests for miles and they attempted large - scale agriculture . Roldilarren dwarves ruled the Vast while the orcs and goblinoid s were driven out and quiet , but others soon immigrated to the developing land . Gnome s and halfling s seeking opportunity joined the dwarves in their farming efforts . Human s were few in number north of the Sea of Fallen Stars , but a few bold and cautious folk came to explore and settle . One of these human explorers was the archmage Maskyr , seeking a place well beyond human affairs where he could build himself a tower . In the Year of the Costly Gift , 645 DR , he chose a certain vale he found quite beautiful and he decided to make his home there , and nowhere else . It was claimed by Roldilar , so Maskyr went to Mount Grimmerfang to seek audience with Deep King Tuir and asked his price for the vale . Tuir did not want to yield any land to any humans , but he feared the archmage ' s power , so he offered the whole vale at the cost that Maskyr pluck out his own right eye and give it to him , there and then . To the shock of the Roldilarren Court , Maskyr did just that . Tuir respected Maskyr for his deed and kept the bargain , granting him the land . He also ordered that no dwarf trespass in the vale nor disturb the archmage . Maskyr settled in his vale , called Maskyr ' s Eye . Others followed , and this marked the beginning of permanent human settlement in the Vast . Their arrival prompted King Tuir to declare that humans would be allowed to come only so far into the mountains and no further , at a point marked by the town of King ' s Reach . Ironically , in some parts , humans and elves lived in the mountains alongside orcs and worse neighbors , as the dwarves controlled the lowlands . Among these settlers , two Sembia n merchants explored the dwarven - held lands , seeking a trade - route from the dwarven mines down to the River Vesper . They named the Three Trees Pass . To that end , the North Road was laid through Three Trees Pass , linking Kurth ( town ) and King ' s Reach . Human s waged costly battles against the orc s of the mountains to control the pass , but were successful . The fall of Roldilar . The Roldilarren dwarves enjoyed only about forty years of real peace before their power waned and they returned to a state of constant war against the orcs . In that time , the orcs had replenished their numbers and recovered their strength . Above and below ground , vast hordes of orcs engulfed Roldilar in the Year of the Bloody Crown , 649 DR . Drow also struck from the subterranean ways . In the last days of Roldilar , according to a local legend , nine dwarves each bearing a chest of gem s were pursued by an orcish horde down the North Road . As the orcs caught up and overtook them , the dwarves buried their hoard near where the roads met , where the hamlet of Sevenecho later lay . They then assaulted the orcs and fought to the death . Deep King Tuir led the dwarven armies against those of orcs and goblins , but they were defeated at Viperstongue Ford over the River Vesper . Roldilar ' s defenses were broken , and the dwarves retreated to Mount Grimmerfang . This ended in the bloody , 20 - day - long Battle of Deepfires beneath the mountain , and the fall of Roldilar , the Realm of Glimmering Swords in 649 DR . The dwarves abandoned Sarbreen to the orcs , who quickly pillaged and razed it . They fled Ylraphon as orcs invaded and pillaged the town . The Roldilarren dwarves were saved from total extinction by their human and elven allies . The elven warrior Beluar and his forces routed the orcs at Viperstongue Ford , then pursued them through the hills later known as Beluar ' s Hunt and into the village of Maskyr ' s Eye to slay the last orc . This delayed the end of Roldilar . The human - built North Road saved the last of the dwarves from being wiped out by the orcs . Dwarven refugees of Roldilar retreated , going east , south over the seas , and to those hidden , isolated communities still surviving in the Vast . Several clans fled into the Earthspur Mountains . Others , particularly craftsfolk and noncombatants migrated to Myth Drannor in Cormanthyr . In the Year of the Angry Caverns , 672 DR , most of these refugee clans left Myth Drannor to reopen the mines of Sarphil by the Moonsea . The dwarves left the Vast to the humans , who stayed to fight the orcs while more kept arriving . Thus the Vast passed entirely into human hands . Roldilar was the last dwarven realm to claim the surface lands of the Vast or dominate there , as of 1370 DR . Legacy . Knowledge of the location of Mount Grimmerfang eventually became lost . Those few dwarven elders still alive by 1370 DR who could still identity Mount Grimmerfang refused to tell human s or elves about it . Legends of lost Roldilarren treasure abounded throughout the Vast in later centuries . These included the buried gem hoard in Sevenecho , and rumored treasures lying in forgotten locations in Calaunt and Ylraphon . The most famous treasure vaults lay in the ruins of Sarbreen , beneath latter - day Ravens Bluff . Government . Throughout its history , Roldilar was ruled by Deep King Tuir Stonebeard . He placed his throne deep beneath Mount Grimmerfang and his retinue was named the Roldilarren Court . Culture . Roldilar was the subject of many songs and tales , which named it " the Realm of Glimmering Swords " . The primary pastime of the Roldilarren dwarves was drinking , and they brewed some famous and fiery liquors . They also forged magnificent armor and weapon s , finery and adornments . Their main industry was of course mining , but they also developed a prosperous logging industry that cleared forests for miles and attempted large - scale agriculture . Through the new port of Sarbreen , the Roldilarren dwarves engaged in heavy trade with other nations to develop their kingdom . They sold gem s , trade - metal s , and only a little of their fine armor , weapons , and artworks , in exchange for cloth , livestock and exotic food s . They imported herds of goats , sheep , and shaggy - haired cattle to fill the cleared lands . They bought honey from halflings all around the Inner Sea to put in their mead . They also had a love of honeyed date s and a variety of spiced ruby - red liqueur s once popular in Mulhorand and Unther . The dwarves constructed stone towers to watch over their land . One custom developed by the Roldilarren dwarves was Hornmoot , an annual trading festival in which the dwarves blew horns in the mountains to signal that they were coming to trade with the humans in the lowlands . Religion . Dwarves of Roldilar followed Clangeddin Silverbeard . They left behind a number of boulders along the North Road , each carved with the symbol of Clangeddin .