Fundin II Dwalinul (SpoangityBob)

Fundin II Dwalinul is the roleplay name of long-time player and server admin SpoangityBob. He originally joined the server in early November 2014, and has devoted most of his effort ever since on excavating the legendary Khazad-dum or Mines of Moria. He is very active in faction diplomatic affairs and holds a seat on both the Dwarven Lords' Council as the King of Khazad-dum, and the White Council as representative of Durin's Folk. He has been an admin on the server since January 2015, receiving the honor at the same time as SpadeCompany and TheSmileBC/Boyd.

Despite his long-held position as King of Khazad-dum, Fundin has never found an "epithet" that he felt truly fit him (such as Silverhand or Ironhelm) but instead prefers to be known among the dwarves that look up to him as "Papa Fundin". Players who become well acquainted with SpoangityBob often come to call him "Fred" based off of his real life name. His full roleplay name, including title, is Fundin II Dwalinul uzbad Khazad-dumu (Fundin the Second, son of Dwalin, Lord of Moria).

## Origins and Backstory

Born to Dwalin in his time in the Blue Mountains prior to the Quest of Erebor, Fundin is named after his grandfather and is theoretically the heir to the Line of Durin in the event that Dain II Ironfoot's line dies out. Roughly the same age as Gimli, he was considered too young to join Thorin Oakenshield's company in the Quest of Erebor, remaining instead in his family's estate south of Old Nogrod in the Blue Mountains. Here he was raised and grew to adulthood, occasionally joining merchant trips through the Shire to the Iron Hills and eventually to Erebor once it had been resettled under King Dain II. It was during his time with the wandering merchants that Fundin developed a special hatred for the orcs of Gundabad as well as Angmar, for their glowing eyes often lit what he felt should have been a peaceful night in Eriador and the Lone-Lands. Marrying fairly young by dwarf standards, he had two sons Dain and Zeleg in his time in the Blues.

Fundin grew into a respectable dwarf in his time in the Blues, although he never met with the lords of the Blues Azaghal II (SquatchThunder) and iwellner45. Hearing stories of the glorious Battle of Mount Gundabad and its retaking by Azaghal, Fundin's thirst for adventure peaked. When his uncle Balin announced his expedition to Khazad-dum, Fundin jumped at the chance for glory despite the misgivings of his relatives. Travelling to Erebor and joining Balin, Fundin was there every step of the way to Khazad-dum and for the five years that Balin considered himself Lord of Moria. Fundin proved himself in those dark days of near perpetual siege, fighting his way through the dark halls and caverns of old. Fundin was one of the dwarves of the expedition who kept on watch for Durin's Bane and other key leaders among the orcs such as Nagithas the Indomitable. His weapon of choice in this sentry role was a steel bow of Noldor-make he called Starbolt. In the right light Fundin claimed this bow lit up with the light of the stars that shone in the Mirrormere as Durin's Crown in the legends of old. In this duty and through his growing prowess at orc slaying and managing defenses, it was only natural that when Balin fell overlooking the Kheled-zaram that his nephew Fundin should take charge of the expedition.

Following Balin's death the expedition laid low. Fundin led the dwarves deeper and deeper through the mansions to evade the orcs, trapping pockets of orcs when they could take them down and retreating back into the massive halls when they could not. They even managed to find hordes of mithril items that even the orcs had not plundered yet. Increasingly better equipped and recovering from the loss of their leader, Fundin and the expedition were slowly reclaiming the lost kingdom. During this time Fundin found an ancient mithril warhammer which he began to use to smite all his foes. He named it Dain's Hand in honor of the King of Durin's Folk Dain II, as he felt the expedition was the hand of the king seizing once more what was rightfully the Longbeards'.

When the Fellowship of the Ring took their course through the Mines of Moria and Gandalf the Grey slew the Balrog atop Durin's Tower, the orcs of Moria were left scattered and reeling. Fundin had led the expedition into the deepest Deeps of the city and so they were passed over by the Fellowship, but as the orcs waned and reclaiming the halls became easier for a time Fundin pressed closer to the surface. Eventually coming to the surface at West Gate next to Eregion, the time had come to reestablish the realm properly. Fundin finished clearing the West Gate of orcs and declared the refounding of Khazad-dum. In time many peoples came to visit the West Gate, not just dwarves but men and elves who forged bonds with Lord Fundin that he honors to the present day.

## King of Khazad-dum

As the West Gate colony began to flourish, Fundin sent for his sons to come to him and assist the colony. And so Dain Fundinul the eventual King of the Grey Mountains became Thane Dain of Khazad-dum, his first title. Fundin and Dain greatly expanded the reach of the colony at West Gate, and laid the plans for the retaking of the eastern halls near Azanulbizar.

Fundin at this time also was prudent in sending out emissaries to other lands, sometimes going himself, to establish the connections his people would need to survive. In this way he earned the trust and friendship of Mewarmy the second King of Rohan, and Atanvarno the third King of Gondor. They also helped form the Dwarven Lords' Council and elected Azaghal II as High King of the Dwarves. After some months of restoration, West Gate was a bustling hub of activity in the otherwise desolate Eregion area, indeed West Gate formed the first true signs of civilization south of Rivendell until one reached the nefarious Tower of Orthanc in the Gap of Rohan.

When finally the time came to reclaim the eastern halls of Khazad-dum, High King Azaghal deemed it also time to reclaim the holds of the Grey Mountains. To this end he and the other dwarven High Lords raised Fundin's son Dain to the position of King of the Grey Mountains and the expedition that would restore them to dwarven civilization. Fundin also became formally recognized as King of Khazad-dum as his colony was now big enough to be considered a kingdom in its own right.

Pushing valiantly into the Great 2nd Hall of the city, Fundin set warriors on constant watch to keep the hall clear as more and more dwarves relocated into the eastern side. The Great Gate overlooking Azanulbizar was set back in its hinges and a guard posted of several axe throwers. Extra defensive works were dug into the caves surrounding the eastern gate to guarantee the safety of the kingdom. Removing the rubble blocking the Hall of Durin, Fundin and his dwarves cheered as a King of Durin's Folk finally sat upon the throne of Khazad-dum, of Durin himself, once more after hundreds of years.

*A king he was on carven throne,*

I*n many-pillared halls of stone.*

*With golden roof and silver floor,*

A*nd runes of power upon the door.*

*The Light of sun and star and moon*

I*n shining lamps of crystal hewn*

*Undimmed by cloud or shade of night*

*There shone for ever fair and bright.*

With the kingdom now flourishing as they regained hall after hall and more and more dwarves began to fill the city once more, Fundin turned his eye to outside affairs. Following his old friends into battle, he participated in the First Southern War alongside the King of the Iron Hills and their friends the lords of Gondor. Many southrons learned to fear the swing of the warhammer Dain's Hand as Fundin cleared the bridges of Poros and knocked men into watery graves, and the bow Starbolt cut down defenders on the highest of walls.

Fundin came to relish opportunities like these to show the renewed might of Khazad-dum to the wider world, later fighting in the Mordor Civil War and even later on in many smaller skirmishes against prominent orc warbands raiding from places as far flung as Fornost and Osgiliath. But as he grew older and more experienced in statecraft Fundin began to set aside his yearnings for combat more and more often. Some claim this was also the effect of a kind of Dragon's Sickness from the wealth of the halls of Khazad-dum; that the now venerable king was succumbing to the greed of his ancestors and simply didn't want to risk losing valuable possessions in the din of battle. Regardless of the truth of the matter, the effect was the same: Fundin nearly ceased warfare altogether and focused on a redoubled effort to re-excavate the lost halls of Khazad-dum, appointing others to do the duty of purging infested halls.

This spell of peacefulness was broken when horrible news reached Fundin from the far north. Dain, his son, had succumbed to the dark will of Sauron through his bond to a ring of power discovered in a dragon's hoard. Slowly withering into a husk of his former self, Dain had become a wraith and had traveled all the way from the Greys to Mordor to set about his new tasks. This turn of events nearly broke Fundin. His first son, his thane, the son raised to a position of kingship from the values instilled in him by Fundin... and he had fallen...

Unsure of what exactly his next course of action should be, Fundin formally declared his second son Zeleg as Thane of Khazad-dum. When Dain the Wraith was reported as marching with an army of Black Uruks of Mordor to the Rohirric town of Mering Stream, Fundin un-cloistered himself and commanded his army muster. His cousin Thorin III Stonehelm, the King Under the Mountain, in tow Fundin set out for Mering Stream.

While the majority of the Black Uruks had been dealt with in a running battle to the south of the city walls, Dain the Ringwraith remained before the host of Rohan sliding about the battlefield and giving the King of Rohan the fight of his life. Casting Lord Sindre aside with the flat of his ensorcelled mithril blade, Dain made his way straight for Fundin when the dwarves made their arrival. Fundin's crossbow, the Star of Moria, rang out twice but the wraith-dwarf cared not. Hefting Dain's Hand Fundin met his son in hand to hand combat, a greater clash between titans had not been seen since the time the Corrupted Knight assaulted Fornost.

Blows rained back and forth as Fundin and Dain fought through the thicket south of Mering Stream. Fundin was the more experienced and his prowess showed, but when Fundin misstepped on a large rock Dain's speed had him nearly atop his father prepared for the killing blow. At that moment a lone Rohirrim who had been laying wounded on the ground leaped up with a mere bronze shortsword and heaved the wraith off of Fundin, and proceeded to stab Dain's side furiously. Stunned and awed by the audacity of this mere mortal man Dain slammed the Rohirrim into a tree before spitting him on his sword. Roaring a battlecry as he was impaled the Rohirrim burst into ethereal green flames as the wraith's weapon withered his body and broke his soul. Seeing all this and the monster that his son had become, Fundin found the strength within him to do what needed to be done. Taking Dain's Hand in both hands he brought the ancient warhammer down upon Dain the Ringwraith's head. The mithril of the weapon shone as it crumbled the figure of the robed wraith-dwarf. A shrill cry pierced the ears and souls of everyone present as Dain was defeated and sent in spirit back to his new dark master. Fundin crumpled to his knees over the robes and rent armor of what had once been his son. Roaring a huge guttural roar to the sky, Fundin set Dain's Hand head-down into the ground and rested his head upon the pommel of the handle. The deed was done, the foe was vanquished. Feeling the wraith poison seep back out of his body, Fundin sobbed.

It has now been some time since that fateful battle at Mering Stream against Dain. King Fundin of Khazad-dum seems to, for all intents and purposes, have recovered from the mental trauma of that battle, and is leading the Kingdom of Khazad-dum alongside his son Thane Zeleg once more. For all the splendor wrought by his dwarves and by his own hand, though, Fundin is haunted by what he has seen in his time. For those who stare long into the abyss find, in time, that the abyss stares back into them.