Hold of Haraz Orldhûm

**Haraz Orldhûm** was a dwarf hold in the West Dwarovar known as the *Place of the Highlords*, home to highly authoritarian and vainglorious *Highlords* which maintained slavery of both goblins and dwarves as well as artisan jewelry crafting. Many of the High Kings of Aul-Dwarov were originally from the clans of the Haraz Orldhûm which held it in high regards, even considering the Highlords of the hold as first amongst equals among the kings of the Dwarovar. The arts of creating platinum jewelry was highly popularized across the Dwarovar by the Platinum Dwarf artisans, which was famously resistant to damaging and relics made of platinum were able to be unearthed in good condition.

## Culture and Customs

Slavery was a deeply engrained institution in Haraz Orldhûm which not only involved goblins, who were natural enemies to the dwarves but also their own brethren. Other dwarves were enslaved either by punishment for being criminals, or by using their debts against them to claim their freedom. The slaves were mainly used for menial tasks such as mining and building with worse conditions than normal workers had, which in turn led to greater profits with an unpaid workforce. Many holds viewed this slavery as immoral while others accepted it as Haraz Orldhûm was already held in such high regards by Aul-Dwarov. Artisanry of jewelry was respected greatly as it brought beauty and gracefulness to the hold as well as high profits with exports all around the Dwarovar.

The Nobility of Haraz Orldhûm was very proud of their ancestors and noble line, being able to trace their line back thousands of years back. They were very skeptical of any new clans emerging in the Dwarovar, usually questioning their achievements while naming dozens of their own. They wouldn’t recognize noble blood unless it went back generations, sometimes even respecting the old clans of holds they were averse of.

Asymmetric warfare was important to the hold which emphasized fortifying the many caverns around the hold with towers carved into the walls of the caverns, named the Turrets of Orldhûm, as well as many outposts which made their surroundings a deathtrap for any enemies who dared challenge the Platinum Dwarves. Rangers were a famous contingent of the Orldhûmic army who revolutionized the hold's and eventually dwarven style of warfare with foraging parties, forward scouts and ambushers.

Orldhûmic Warsuit exoskeletons were highly effective suits of armor which were used by the most noble warriors of the hold which were said to *"give them the strengths of the mountain and protect them from deadly blows that would cleave through any other armor".* Very few suits were ever made as the secrets of their craft was highly coveted so that their rivals did not acquire their technology.

## History

### The Counterattack of the Western Holds

In 5895 BA, the combined forces of Haraz Orldhûm, Ovdal Asra and Khugdihr launched a counter attack against the orcs occupying Verkal Vazkron and along with the dwarves of Amldihr, Orlazam-az-dihr and the Grim legion of Krakdhûmvror, slew every last orc that sieged the hold. However, this victory was short as an even larger host of orcs arrived in Verkal Vazkron which caused the western holds to suffer considerable losses, with the remainder of the troops escaping through the Southern Entrance.

### The Siege of Haraz Orldhûm

In 5870 BA, the Orcs which were headed for Khugdihr through Ovdal Asra were stopped by the collapse of the latter hold, this made the horde target Haraz Orldhûm which was weak after their army was defeated in Verkal Vazkron. All the hold had left was 1000 warriors, 100 warsuits, 2000 slaves and one weak queen. At the beginning, the orcs tried to besiege the hold via the caverns surrounding it which proved to be a disaster. The Turrets of Orldhûm were a death trap to the orcs with none being able to traverse the caves without getting bombarded from multiple directions.

Queen Tharit II *“The Weak”* was reigning during the time of the siege and proved to be one of the weakest rulers Haraz Orldhûm had ever seen as she delegated her issues in the hold to her advisors to fix and being all around incompetent. After 100 years of prolonged fighting with a depleted number of dwarf defenders, the queen decided to offer the dwarf slaves freedom in exchange for the defense of the hold which was cautioned as a bad idea by her people, but ended up happening as she saw it to be just.

### The Last Blunder of Tharit II

The freeing of the slaves proved to be yet another mistake of the queen as the angry slaves quickly overpowered their former captors and hanged Tharit II, seizing power yet being oblivious to the dire situation they found themselves in. The former slaves managed maintain a defense of the hold for 20 more years until the goblin slaves of the hold revolted and opened the gates for the orcs in 5750 BA. With the Platinum Dwarves wiped out, the goblins traded one master for another, leaving the orcs to rule over the ruined hold.