Thelgrim

Once through the Gates, travelers find themselves in a vast
stone receiving hall, lit by cunningly wrought shafts that bring
light from the surface and are protected by even more hidden
defenses. Besides the doors to the garrison quarters and
storerooms, the only exit is a second pair of massive doors
at the far end of the hall. These lead to the Hearth Road; the
underground passage that stretches seven leagues to the heart
of Thelgrim.

The Hearth Road is wide enough for five wagons to travel
abreast and intricate runework runs the length of the walls;
a history of the Dwarven people for those with the ken to
read it. Every inch is smooth and polished, more reminiscent
of expertly-worked metal than rough stonework. This is the
gift of the Dunwarr Dwarves, the ability to not only work a
material, but hear it. They know the temperature of molten
iron from just a glance at it, understand the size and shape of
an obsidian vein by laying a hand on it, and can feel exactly
where to lay a chisel to leave a perfectly flat stone face. They
are masters of the forge and quarry, and nowhere is this mastery
on display more than in Thelgrim.

Thelgrim is where one can start to truly understand the
scale of the Dunwarr Deeps—the network of caverns that run
through the bones of the Dunwarr Mountains, and domain of
the Dunwarr Dwarves. The Hearth Road opens into a vast cavern
filled with towering stalagmites and outcroppings of living
rock. Once the road ran into the cavern without interruption,
but that was before the Third Darkness, when Gehennor sent
his dragon hybrids along the Hearth Road and into Thelgrim’s
heart. Since then, the dwarves have sunk a deep chasm across
that side of the cavern, and only a single arching bridge links
the Hearth Road to the city. At the far side of the bridge stand
more gates, and bulwarks topped by a strategic collection of
crenelles and parapets. Only when one passes this final portal
have they entered the city of Thelgrim.

The gates are matched by similar defenses on the north end
of the city that lead out into the Deeps, and each is abutted by
one of the two barracks of the Warriors’ Guild. The southern
barracks are commanded by Skirmisher Captain Lyssa Svensdottir,
the soldier who oversees all military action outside of
the mountains. The northern barracks are commanded by
her brother, Guard Captain Einalf Svensson, who oversees
the defenses within the Deeps and the Palace Guard, which
defends King Geirmund Ragnarson.

THE HEART OF THE CITY
Originating as a simple intersection of tunnels in one of the
Deeps’ larger caverns, the Dunwarr capital of Thelgrim started
as a series of camps full of weary refugees during the Years of
Exile. Eventually, cloth tents gave way to stone walls and the
camps began to transform into a fragile new civilization. Millennia
later, it still stands as a stony, ever-growing testament to
Dwarven resilience.

Thelgrim exists within a massive underground cavern, eternally
lit by hundreds of crystal starglobes laboriously crafted
by the Runescribes’ Guild. From afar, their sparkling radiance
makes the city look like a gigantic geode. Within the city’s
walls, the starglobes light the streets with a dim, gentle glow.
Human visitors find the low light bothersome, which tends to
amuse the locals to no end.

In Thelgrim, the buildings tend to be dug into the rock of
the cavern walls and stalagmites as often as built freestanding
on the cavern floor. The buildings are organized in rings,
running outwards from the city center. At Thelgrim's heart, a
towering aqueduct redirects the flow of an underground river
into a Dwarf-crafted lake—as well as providing fresh water for
the inhabitants.

At the far end of the lake stands Dunwol Kenn Karnin,
“The Fortress inside the Mountain.” From within the thick
walls and defensive battlements of this fortress within a fortress,
King Ragnarson rules from Tanngnoster's Throne. The
Throne and the throne room it occupies sit at the very depths
of Dunwol Kenn Karnin; a final fastness for the dwarven people
in their darkest hours.

On the opposite side of the lake from Dunwol Kenn Karnin
sits the Guild Hall, its imposing facade displaying one ornately
decorated pillar for each of the ten guilds that make up
the heart and soul of Dwarven society. Unlike the sober quiet
of the King’s fortress, the Guild Hall is a raucous and lively
place. The heads, sub-heads, and representatives of each of the
guilds spend hours in spirited debate; each trying to further
their own guilds’ interests and expand their authority. More
than once these debates have devolved into angry brawls that
force the king’s own representatives to haul the guild members
outside and toss them into the lake to cool off.