The Dwarf Kingdom of Nord

The **Dwarf Kingdoms of The North** is a confederation of small kingdoms and colonies of a dwarven dominant population that inhabit the tundra plains north of the Irongrate mountains. Although colonies in the north have existed since 400 as the Kingdom of Goryur financed several expeditions to exploit the abundant metal sources in and around the mountains, the colonies have become the seat of power for the dwarves in Clamund as most of their southern territories were razed and destroyed by crusading humans during the 7th century. Now, the dwarf kingdoms are an essential part of Clamund trade as they are a kingdom that knows the secret of steel, makings its trade and processing into weapons and armour sought after highly by human kingdoms in the south despite their outlook on the race.

## History

### The Founding, 658

The Kingdom of Nord was shortly established after the great paragon trials ripped through the realm of Clamund in the mid 7th century. Many of the new arrivals at the northern colonies were former nobles and citizens of the dwarven cities north of the Kingdom of the First Men and the Kingdom of Lambert after several crusades led by a confederation of paragon-aligned states and kingdoms besieged and sacked every dwarven city along the foot of the Irongrate mountains. Out of all the dwarven cities, the Kingdom of Goryur was the final dwarven fortress to be besieged by a combined force of Mannish, Visimarian, Black Lands tribals, Maol-Moirel clansmen, Davenburt and several free state regiments as well as several mercenary companies. The siege would last until 690 when the walls leading into the underground fortress would be broken by siege engines and the attack on the city would soon lead to its capture, scattering those who could escape and those who didn't either were slain or captured. The loss of Vun Lodgar would speak the end of the dwarven city states as what remained of the citizenry and their nobility led them past the mountains to claim the northern colonies as their own. Vun Lodgar would lead to the plundering of many much needed resources including iron and steel, livestock, and most importantly, underground food and grain stocks much needed for the colonies up north.

Most journeys north would be treacherous as many refugees would be forced to fight against marauding bandits and soldiers; many of whom were taking advantage of the chaos to ravage and loot the countryside. Those who did survive would be forced to settle much further north as the colonies in the mountains itself would be too overcrowded for even the first fallen dwarven city's refugees.

### The Great Famine of 700

Years following the sack of Vun Lodgar, many colonies would soon face the threat of famine as they were cut from an essential food source that the hinterlands they settled in could not provide. By 700, famine had affected every dwarven colony, forcing many to seek alternative methods such as sustenance hunting, raiding the south for seeds and fungus, or even cannibalism in the far northern colonies. Deaths reached into the far hundreds of thousands as many dwarven colonies lacked any sort of means for food aside from foraging and hunting, those who didn't find any source quickly starved to death while stronger dwarves migrated onward to other colonies in hopes of finding sustenance. This was a dark age in dwarven history as more than 87% of the dwarven population perished during the famine, depopulating entire colonies and wiping lineages of major houses.

Hope would arrive by means of relief efforts sent by the Kingdom of Lambert after several years of pleas by dwarven refugees. Although many dwarves chose to live in the Kingdom of Lambert because of their more lenient laws towards other races, the kingdom was initially reluctant to help as the great paragon trails severely affected the kingdom due to raids from rowdy crusaders along their borders. Caravans filled with seeds and food would arrive to most of the southern colonies, allowing the dwarves to haul supplies to the northernmost colonies and to see who would be still alive.

### The Establishment of the Forge Guard, 742

After the recovering period that the great famine left on the Dwarven colonies, major strides were made by lords with some power amongst their people to create kingdom states along the southern areas of the Kingdoms. These kings would form a somewhat loose alliance with each other and form what is now known as the Dwarf Kingdoms of Nord. The frigid temperatures above ground meant that dwarves had to dig deep into the mountains and use the magma sources below the mountains for warmth and for their magma forges which attributed to the abundance of iron and steel among the dwarf colonies. The Master Smiths who worked with these forges were prized people to have amongst a Dwarf Kings court, and with a heavy price on their heads in the south land with more than enough human lords who would more or less enslave master smiths to work against their will called for a need for a personal household guard that would protect these master smiths.

The Forge Guard was the protection these skilled smiths needed. These religious warriors protected both the magma forges and the master smiths who worked in their place and in return received masterwork armour and weapons that could be cherished as family heirlooms in their own right. These warriors were tasked with only in the protection of their forge and smith and cannot leave their hold to fight their battles in the field lest they break their oaths. Forge Guard are trained extremely well in combat and often used to protect the forges from foreign threats and hostile takeovers.

### The Paragon Crusades, 757

After the introduction of Forge Guards and the steady rise in power seen in the northern lands due to their mineral refinery efforts and selling of prized armour fit for kings, the Dwarf kingdoms were found to be regularly targeted by Paragon-religious peoples in the south for their wealth despite being of a mutant half-man standard. This base religious tolerance for dwarfs coupled with holy missions from the Holy Empire incentivized local lords who were most devote to gather their levies and travel north.

The Paragon Crusades were a series of smaller crusades called by local lords and alliances of the Kingdom of Lambert at the Holy Empire of Visimar's behest that lasted from 757-760. These crusades saw the thousands of religious soldiers and pilgrims journey north through mountain passages to raid the lands of Dwarf Kingdoms in an attempt to carry their rumored riches back to their lands. Refugees and pilgrims that were scattered as they followed crusades into the north were either chased back to the southern lands or were captured and brought back to dwarven holds to be held as Thralls.

These thralls were treated with more dignity than what a thrall might've been treated in the Jarldom in the south as the thralls that were captured were granted freedom amongst the dwarves and were integrated into their population, showing how tolerant most dwarves were living with humans who were attacking them only a few years prior.

After many failures and push backs that the crusades had experienced, it did not take long for lords to retreat back to the south with what little they had and sold it to whoever paid for dwarven goods.

### Militant Uprisings, 900

###