We have spoken about the history of Dwarves on Krynn, and touched lightly on their ancestral homes of Kal-Thax, Thorin and Thorbardin. But what about the others? Let’s have a brief overview of the Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn.
Time Stamps:
Transcript
Cold Open
The Smiths were chosen by Reorx. They lost the Graystone which created Scions from them. The Scions led the Smiths to Ansalon and our story of Dwarves continues…
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about the Dwarven Kingdoms. This can be seen as a part two of last week’s Dwarves of Krynn episode. I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. This episode is informed by the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn boxed set, but also from the novels and other game materials.
Discussion
As a way of a primer, the first Dwarven Kingdom on Ansalon was called Kal-Thax. In truth, there would be many of them along the coast line. Kal-Thax stands for ‘Cold Forge’. The first of these was formed among the natural caverns and sea caves along the coast of Nordmaar. It was seen as a chill prison/fortress, useful only as protection from the tremendous threat of the wandering Graystone. They would delve deep into the natural and living limestone underground to create their new home. This is truly where the dwarven traits as we know them manifest within the race. As they expanded the network of Kal-Thax they would uncover a sealed cavern where water dripped from the rock, falling to the floor in a deep minor musical key. Upon closer inspection the wall bore the face of Reorx himself, and the great debate as to why he wept would begin. Was it a sign to be content with their new home and find peace or to strike out and build even greater homes?
After the fall of Gargath and the further chaos of the newly released Graystone, the dwarves migrated to a newly discovered home of Thorin. An ancient, abandoned, crude ogre lair by dwarven standards. The deep cave was one feature that was outdone in its significance by the pool of magma at its center. They built a great keep of Thorin at the heights of their kingdom and delved vast caverns beneath the surface. With their endless energy source at the core of their new kingdom, they would invent glass blowing, mirrors to light their vast underground land, and delve a vast Grand Gather where they would have formal meetings and bring honored guests. They also uncovered the Dragon Orbs the elves hid there aeons before. Bringing them to the surface to destroy them in the Lords of Doom, a trio of active volcanoes, they were lost in a great ogre battle. They would trade with the human realms and find peace and prosperity.
The chieftain and over a thousand followers would migrate to a new home, a Kal-Thax in the west. The Hylar were able to best and convince the Thiewar, Daewar, Daergar and Klar that lived there to join them in a new kingdom called Thorbardin. Thorbardin features a massive lake with the Life-Tree at its center. Each dwarven clan has a vast kingdom of their own underneath the mountain. During the Kinslayer Wars, the Theiwar wanted to ally with Humans, but hide it from the elves. The Hylar discovered the treachery and to rectify it came to the aid of Kith-Kanan, and ultimately settled the war. The Silvanesti never forgave the Theiwar, though the Hylar and Qualinesti would make peace through the signing of the Swordsheath Scroll, and the building of the fortress Pax Tharkas. The Ergoth invasion of the Kharolis Mountains would ultimately unify the dwarven clans of Thorbardin. For a thousand years, Thorbardin would be a symbol of peace and prosperity.
The Third dragon war was won in no small part due to the inclusion of Thorbardin’s army joining the forces of light. There would be another thousand years of growth and prosperity before the cataclysm, and the dwarves would found two new colonies. The first was a return to Thorin, or what was now known as Thoradin in the Khalkis Mountains. There was a belief that superior steel lay within its depths and many companies went searching for it’s abandoned halls. After battling many Ogres in the Khalkists, they discovered their old homeland. The downside was that it was inhabited by their ancient enemy. They didn’t want to exterminate the ogres, but rather drive them from their ancestral home, so they set a coordinated attack with defined escape routes and after hours of pressure from the Dwarven armies the Orges abandoned Thoradin. They would clear out and reclaim the ancient tunnels and spaces, clearing paths to the now covered magma pools. The Dwarves of Thoradin opened exclusive trade with Istar, and they would build roads for the humans to travel the mountains and its passes.
The First Ogre War would begin in 910 PC lasting over 40 years. Thoradin could get no assistance from Istar and little aid from Thorbardin, losing many lives and goods in the battle. If it wasn’t for the assistance of the Knights of Solamnia, Thoradin might have perished. It ended with the Ogres asking for a truce which lasted for 350 years! In 613 PC The first High Thane was appointed in Thoradin which would mark the end of violent strife between the clans under the mountain. The Second Ogre War was not as evenly fought. The Dwarves immediately enlisted bodies from Solamnia and resources from Istar and in a few years decimated the ogre nation. In 118 PC when the Kingpriest of Istar declared the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue and ordered the Dwarves to stop their worship of Reorx, Thoradin immediately closed its borders to Istar, turning back anyone attempting to pass the Khalkists. Infuriated and without access to western Ansalon as the elves had already closed their borders to Istar, they sent legions against the dwarves. Istar’s losses were so high it would be a century before they dared to repeat the expedition.
With the coming cataclysm being warned about by the clerics of Reorx, Thoradin closed its borders for good, smuggling trade and hoarding resources, as they had long been unable to subsist on their own. The cataclysm truly ended Thoradin. With six of its seven great settlement cities immediately destroyed and the volcanic eruptions under the mountain, only Zhakar would rise from the ashes.
The second colony founded by the prosperity of Thorbardin was Kayolin. Located 300 miles north of Thorbardin, Kaolin was a Hylar-only colony. The dwarves were granted access to the northern Kharolis Mountains by the Knights of Solamnia for their assistance in the Third Dragon War. They utilized the underground streams to create a small city named Garnet-Thax, and delved deep into the mountain for the area’s rich abundance of metals, granite, marble and gems. Trade was going so well the Hylar invited the Daewar to join them and help mine and delve. For 500 years it remained a colony, paying tribute to Thorbardin, but in 458 PC Garnet declared independence. The cataclysm didn’t cause any major damage to the kingdom, but it did force them to close their gates from the world. The two last dwarven kingdoms were cut off from each other by the Newsea.
Returning to Zakhar. The damage from the Cataclysm was extensive, but the bulk of the population survived. Though they did not thrive. They were cut off from the rest of civilization by the chaotically shifting mountains. The Theiwar survivors suffered from the plague, thought to be the result of mold due to an incredible amount of moisture from flooding. This plague distorted the flesh, and many died. Of the survivors many would be driven insane. Those who survived were twisted versions of themselves. They began to pursue evil and dug a tunnel from their home to Sanction, running weapons, armor and supplies for the Dark Queen.
The cataclysm also caused the closing of Thorbardin, shutting out the hill dwarves and human refugees. Fistandantilus would magically erect Zhaman Keep and take command of the forces besieging Thorbardin. When his army was near defeat, he called down a series of potent spells that not only destroyed the enemy’s army, but his own forces. Zhaman was battered into a ruin, known as skullcap today. The dwarven gates would remain closed until the Heroes of the Lance entered Thorbardin and Flint Fireforge retrieved the Hammer of Kharas.
Outro
And that has caught us up with the known Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn. Do you have a favorite kingdom? Do you think the Dwarves made the right choice to close their gates after the cataclysm? Leave a comment below.
I would like to once again invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel, and you can pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link, all of which are in the description below.
This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
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