Gauntlgrym

"Spoilers for my OotA campaign!" In ages past, the subterranean city of Gauntlgrym was the capital of Delzoun, the first dwarven kingdom, founded over 2000 years ago as dwarves began leaving the tundras of modern-day Frossik and settling in Southern Yamen. Its cavernous halls-some large enough to contain entire surface villages-were carved with unerring precision, their ceilings soaring scores of feet overhead. Towering statues of dwarven gods and heroes stood vigil over chambers and thoroughfares, the least of which was wide enough to march fifty dwarves standing abreast.

The mines of Gauntlgrym produced endless tides of iron, silver, gold, and mithral, and booming trade brought goods and wealth to the city from across Nexus. But it was the Great Forge that was the burning heart and true treasure of the city. Deep beneath the settled levels of Gauntlgrym, dwarven crafting and elven magic bound the slumbering primordial Maegera, a being of fire and destruction, harnessing its incredible powers to heat the forge. On anvils of adamantine blessed by priests of Moradin, great items of power were forged, their base material infused with a splinter of Maegera's essence. The unceasing wonders flowing from these forges helped make Gauntlgrym into one of the most magnificent cities Alorea has ever known.

Delzoun was the last kingdom to join Yamen, and stalwartly maintained their traditions once part of the larger kingdom. During the Kobelian invasion Delzoun, now a state as a part of the Yamen kingdom, was the main supplier of the rare materials and metal components needed to create the Warforged. This was especially true of the capital, whose denizens worked day and night in the mines and the forges. The dwarves of Gauntlygrym was presumed to be the safest stronghold in Yamen, being underground and the furthest away from Koble. But when High Lord Kip signed the Yugoloth Conditional-Citizenship Contract the countless hoards of fiends targeted every settlement that was valuable to Yamen, Gauntylgrym being no exception. The invasion was brutal and devastating. Gauntlgrym was swarmed by rampaging armies of fiends, and the state of Delzoun was overrun in the terrible fighting. The dwarves, refusing to give up their ancestral home, fought until their last breath. Ultimately, the dwarves of Delzoun fought the fiends to a stalemate, a feat no other state accomplished, but this came at a great cost. The once-mighty dwarven state was left crippled, never to recover, the dwarven god Moradin is all but forgotten, and the great city of Gauntlgrym was lost. The ruins were soon settled by wicked creatures from the Underdark.

The drow House Xorlarrin eventually took Gauntlgrym, establishing a new city they called Q'Xorlarrin, producing weapons at the forge that they traded and used to pay tribute to Menzoberranzan.

In recent years, the dwarf hero Bruenor Battlehammer was able to seize the fabled city back from its drow masters. Bruenor, along with his companions Wulfgar, Cattie-brie, Regis, and Drizzt Do'Urden, gathered many allies from the surface world and nearby Underdark communities and retook the city. They prevented Maegera from being unleashed upon Faerûn, and set about attempting to restore the city to its former glory. Bruenor now sits upon the Great Throne of Moradin, working to rebuild the city and keep it safe-even as a new threat looms in the depths of the Underdark.

General Features
Gauntlgrym is a city carved out of the living rock, with halls and passages wide enough for the largest dragons to walk through. There are hundreds of levels, twisting stairs, functioning elevators, and a system of mine carts crossing in and out of the central hub of the Iron Tabernacle. By no means is the city fully occupied. Indeed, given the relatively small size of Bruenor's occupying force, keeping track of anyone within Gauntlgrym is nearly impossible.


 * Light. In the upper levels and around the Iron Tabernacle and Vault of Kings, Gauntlgrym is brightly lit. Driftglobes, phosphorescent fungi, and huge braziers and troughs of burning coals fill most hallways and chambers. Lights in many parts of the city are dimmed somewhat during the nighttime hours, so that its residents can mark the passage of time on the surface world. In the lower reaches, around the Great Forge, light isn't as ubiquitous. Farther down, and in parts of the city yet to be reclaimed from the ruins of the past, there is no light other than whatever visitors bring with them.
 * Mine Carts. Mining was one of Gauntlgrym's primary sources of wealth and materials. To facilitate the movement of ore, as well as the great quantities of stone used to construct and expand the city, the dwarves laid miles of track traversed by mine carts propelled by enchantments woven into their wheels. Even after thousands of years, the tracks remain largely intact and the magic of the carts has not faded. Where the carts trundle steadily throughout the city, Gauntlgrym's residents use them for travel, hopping on and off along the system's wide range of routes. All tracks eventually lead to a switching station in the Iron Tabernacle. There, posted operators manipulate levers and gears to transfer carts from one track to another.
 * Ghosts. The shades of long-deceased inhabitants of the city, from the time of the Delzoun of old, haunt many of the tunnels and hallways of Gauntlgrym. These spectral remnants are seen passing through ruined sections of the city as if those sections were still intact, following habitual routes, engaging in silent conversation with one another, and generally keeping out of the way of the living. King Bruenor has decreed the restless dead be left alone for now unless they cause problems.

The Vault of Kings
Large enough to enclose a small town, this high-ceilinged chamber rises above a network of bridges, stone towers, and sturdy walls carved from rock and sheathed in iron and mithral. Dozens of smaller chambers lead out from the Vault of Kings, including sprawling residential areas not yet filled by Gauntlgrym's new occupants.

The vault is on the same level as the city's main gates and can be reached from there, though a system of smaller gates and checkpoints has been set up to keep potential invaders from reaching as far as the throne room. That section of the vault, where the king spends a considerable amount of his time, is a large hall lined with pillars and benches, intended as a meeting place as much as a seat of rulership. The Great Throne of Moradin is protected by powerful magic, and forcefully ejects anyone but the rightful king who attempts to sit upon it.

The Vault of Kings is heavily patrolled and guarded by shield dwarf veterans traveling in squads of six. It is the safest part of the city.

The Iron Tabernackle
The Iron Tabernacle is Gauntlgrym's spiritual and cultural heart as well as its physical center. More than a temple, the tabernacle is an entire section of the city larger than some surface towns, devoted to the faith of the former Delzoun Kingdom and of the dwarves who answered Bruenor's call to reclaim the city. Vast cathedrals of stone once echoed with the paeans of a thousand chanting voices. Great sculptures in honor of a multitude of gods gazed across an array of shrines and altars. Priests stood ready by night and day to tend to the spiritual needs of their people, and hundreds of stone tablets trumpeted the holy words of Moradin.

Like so much else of ancient Gauntlgrym, the Iron Tabernacle isn't what it once was. The intricate patterns and knotwork have faded from the walls, some of the statues have begun to crumble, and many passages are blocked with rubble. The devilish duergar, once in control of the mines below, took delight in defiling the holy icons of the absent dwarves. They defaced statues, tore down altars, and carved obscenities into the sacred tablets. Anything of value, such as silver or mithral trim, gold icons, and hallowed weapons, has been completely scavenged.

As the heart of Gauntlgrym, the Iron Tabernacle is the central hub of the city's passageways and railways. Broad corridors, winding stairs, iron rails, roadways carved into the earth-nearly all the city's major byways pass through the tabernacle. Every part of Gauntlgrym can be reached from this area, albeit sometimes indirectly. Notably, the Vault of Kings is about a mile to the north of the Iron Tabernacle, and the Great Forge is several hundred feet below it and a half mile to the south.

Rebuilding the Faith
Shield dwarf priests have begun the long task of rebuilding, revitalizing, and restoring the Iron Tabernacle to its former glory, and keeping worship of Moradin alive in the process. The area is vast, and its halls are numerous and multileveled. The dwarf priests have restored many shrines and altars, and have cleared paths through the cracked and broken hallways to the Vault of Kings so that Bruenor can make personal visits to the main shrines and offer thanks to the gods. This procession often includes Bruenor's visitors or those ambassadors from the surface who come to Gauntlgrym to seek counsel with the king.

Slumber of the Ancients
The lowest level of the Iron Tabernacle is a seemingly endless collection of urns. Laid out according to patterns or traditions now lost to time, the tombs contain thousands of Gauntlgrym's honored dead, who were cremated in the flames of the Great Forge. Some urns are more elaborate than others. All include names, titles, and lineage carved into the stone. A number of scholars have been drawn to Gauntlgrym in response to Bruenor's call, hoping to record a complete lineage of the great families of Gauntlgrym, including their possible connections to modern bloodlines, from an exhaustive study of the records carved in the crypt's stones.

Unlike the rest of the Iron Tabernacle, the tombs are unmarred. Spectral dwarves are common in this area, though their spirits remain quiet as long as visitors are respectful of the dead.

The Great Forge
The Great Forge is a cavernous chamber divided into smaller sections housing furnaces and anvils. Some areas of the cavern are raised on daises of stone, while others stand in shallow pits. Layers of stone catwalks crisscross the chamber, providing not only vantage points but also anchors for pulleys transporting buckets of ore and water throughout the forge. The Great Forge is about a half mile south of the Iron Tabernacle and several hundred feet below it, and can be reached by mine cart or on foot.

It was said of old that the Iron Tabernacle was Gauntlgrym's heart, the Vault of Kings its mind, and the Great Forge its mighty hands. Here, on adamantine anvils blessed by Moradin's priests, wonders were hammered from iron, mithral, silver, and steel. When Gauntlgrym thrived, the forge echoed with the hammering and songs of a hundred smiths working at once. In time, it might do so again.

It was the furnaces of the Great Forge that made this place the apex of the dwarf smiths' art, for those furnaces are driven by the power of Maegera the Dawn Titan- a primordial imprisoned below them. Slumbering within the stone, Maegera exudes an unnatural heat that the dwarves tap into by winding coils of copper and adamantine throughout the forge like webs and using them as conduits to transfer magical heat to their furnaces. Runes of power carved into the walls and etched into the coils allow them to withstand the intense energy. Metals melt almost instantly in the furnaces of the Great Forge, and tools cast from those metals are enchanted with motes of primordial essence.

When Maegera awoke in the last century, the earth shook, and many of the furnaces' conduits were severed. Today, lengths of twine-thin metal hang limp and broken throughout the rubble of the Great Forge, which lies upon the bones of those unable to escape the collapse of bridges and walls. Other coils remain in place, and the furnaces to which they are linked burn as hot today as they did in centuries gone by.

The Fiery Pit
Heat and ruddy light emanate from a pit in the depths of Gauntlgrym. Chambers and tunnels lead away from this chasm at different heights. Despite channels built into the walls to carry water to the magma below, the heat from the pit is ferocious. Gouts of steam billow up through cracks in the stone to fill the chambers above this area, and the earth rumbles in a pulse like labored breathing.

The Fiery Pit is the prison of the primordial known as Maegera, who slumbers fitfully in its depths. The only sign of the entity's presence is a whirlpool of white-hot magma that resembles a great eye, set in the center of the lake of molten rock at the pit's bottom. Maegera sleeps and dreams, half conscious of its surroundings and half delirious with whatever dreams haunt a being of pure destruction.

When ancient mages first tapped into Maegera's power, they used water magic to bind elementals that cooled the primordial's rage and kept it asleep. This bond lasted for centuries until someone closed the channels of water. With the pit's cooling mechanism shut down, Maegera stirred in its slumber, and its dream of ruination was enough to destroy Gauntlgrym.

In the years following, Maegera groggily awoke from time to time, causing earthquakes throughout the region. Eventually, the primordial was returned to its slumber through the efforts of Bruenor, Drizzt Do'Urden, Jarlaxle, and other heroes. Where Maegera sleeps now, the intense heat it generates once again fires the Great Forge of Gauntlgrym.

Back in Operation
Under Bruenor's watchful governance, the Great Forge has again begun to produce metalworks.

The king has left the day-to-day running of the Great Forge to a pair of experienced smiths: Helgrim Candlewick and Rollo Summergold.

Bruenor Battlehammer
The legendary Bruenor Battlehammer is a good dwarf and king, and always has the best interests of his people and home at heart. He is drawn to help those who follow a strong moral and ethical code, and often seeks their help in return.