Grymforge

Grymforge was the name given to a fortress in the Underdark that was connected to a nearby Sharran temple called the Gauntlet of Shar. In the late 15 century DR, Grymforge was nearly forgotten and had no permanent inhabitants except those trying to explore its secrets.
==Geography==
Grymforge was built on the shore of a lava lake that was used to heat the fortress's forge and later the Adamantine Forge.
==History==
===First Sharran Period===
The original fortress was built by unknown followers of the goddess Shar. It had another name at the time, which was still known by the late 14 century and was mentioned in the book Grymforge: A History, but by the 1490s DR this word was illegible. A forge was built around the lava lake bordering the city.Inscriptions on a plaque at the entrance of the Adamantine Forge were worn away several centuries before 1492 DR because of the heat, implying that there had been a forge before Silouv Yali redesigned it in the late 14 century to work with adamantine.
The Sharrans had been using the fortress for almost 800 years,The in-game document Grymforge: A History writes "Grymforge served our Mistress eight hundred years nigh." The word 'nigh' means 'near', 'nearly', 'almost', or 'close', so it is presumed to be a span of almost 800 years. However, the lack of knowledge of the earlier occupation, its apparent great age, and the sentence structure suggest 'nigh' was misused by the writer and 'past' or 'ago' were meant instead. If so, the former fortress may instead have been in use 800 years previously and was abandoned in the late 500s DR. but for some reason it was abandoned. The reason for that was a mystery even for Shar's Chosen, Ketheric Thorm.
===Second Sharran period===
In the later 14 century Ketheric Thorm planned to rebuild "the lost city". It served as the headquarters of Ketheric's Dark Justiciars.
Sharran Priestess Sister Ansar converted the gnome Silouv Yali (probably via torture) to the Sharran faith. Silouv was known from Candlekeep to Sorcere for his talents in wizardry and metallurgy and he redesigned the fortress's forge so it could smelt ore to produce adamantine for making weapons. After a sequence of experiments, he managed to find a way to put this idea into practice. The true treasure of Grymforge was not its Adamantine Forge, but the adamantine golem called Grym guarding it - a creation born of molten magma and potent magic.
However, the enemies of the Sharrans tried to infiltrate the fortress, leading to a series of misidentifications of fellow Sharrans as spies by inquisitor Sybil. At least one of the Harper spies was captured and interrogated, revealing one of their trapped stashes.
The Dark Justiciar forces of the fortress prepared an assault against Moonhaven and the traces of these preparations could still be found in Grymforge as of 1492 DR. The correspondence between inquisitor Sybil and General Ketheric Thorm testified to the changes in the assault plans as Sybil's subordinates hadn't destroyed Moonhaven by the time planned by Ketheric. It resulted in Ketheric deciding to lead the Dark Justiciars against the Selûnite town by himself a tenday after his planned visit to Grymforge.
The Selûnites in Reithwin were on the verge of being destroyed, so Mordfred, the leader of the Selûnite resistance, made a deal with Raphael, selling his soul in exchange for help fighting against the Ketheric's Dark Justiciars. Raphael sent orthon Yurgir to get rid of the Sharrans. The orthon broke through the walls of Grymforge and started to exterminate all the Dark Justiciars of Grymforge and the Gauntlet of Shar until there were none left. Some of his merregons still roamed the Inquisitor's chambers as of 1492 DR.
===Bitterroot Clan Period===
In the late 15 century, Grymforge was held by the duergar Clan Bitterroot and ruled by king Guerdon. The presence of the clan threatened the plans of the Cult of the Absolute. According to the report of disciple Z'rell called Beheading the Bitterroots, the cult decided to assassinate king Guerdon, thus causing a succession crisis within the clan. The next step would be taking the shattered duergar under the cult's control. By the , Bitterroot Clan was destroyed and the ruined city got new masters.
===The Absolute Crisis===
In the , the fortress was in the control of the cultists of the Absolute that operated under the orders of True Soul Nere and the hired duergar Clan Flameshade, which may split from Clan Bitterroot. The cultists were trying to find a passage to the Gauntlet of Shar. For this task, they required a larger workforce, so they assigned Clan Flameshade to deliver more slaves to excavate the fortress. Most of them were enslaved after a successful assault on the so-called Decrepit Village, a deep gnome settlement on the other side of Ebonlake. A lot of slaves died and were simply thrown into the waters of the lake.
A squad of drow Harpers under the leadership of Jhaam, acting on Jaheira's orders, attempted to infiltrate the cultists, but their real identities were revealed and they were publicly hanged by a novice of the Absolute called Murmath.
The route from Grymforge to the Gauntlet of Shar turned out to be impassable and during the excavation the ceiling had collapsed. Nere and four enslaved deep gnomes were caught in a gas trap trying to reach a broken platform leading to the Temple.
==Locations==
===Docks===
===Elevator===
===Dormitory===
===Adamantine Forge===
The Adamantine Forge (also the Great Forge).
==Notable Inhabitants==
* Guerdon, the king of the Bitterroot Clan.
* Grym, the adamantine golem guarding the Adamantine Forge.
* Nere, a drow True Soul of the Absolute.
* Thrinn, a duergar sergeant of the Absolute.
* Brithvar, the elder of Clan Flameshade.
* Beldron, a deep gnome steward of Gaerdal Ironhand.
* Meerna, a deep gnome burrow warden.
* Sybil, a Dark Justiciar and a Sharran inquisitor.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
:;Video Games
:: Baldur's Gate III
===Notes===
===External links===
* 
===References===
===Gallery===
File:Adamantine Forge Concept 1.jpg
File:Adamantine Forge Concept 2.jpg
File:Adamantine Forge Concept 3.jpg
Category:Ruins
Category:Fortresses
Category:Locations in the Underdark
Category:Locations on Toril