The Kingdom of Iron
Ruler: King Druthnar Hammerheart
Government: Hereditary Monarchy
Capital: Nazakhan
The Iron Kingdom is one of
the oldest dwarven kingdoms in Erehwon. The capital of the
kingdom is Nazakhan, a huge fortress city carved out of a single
mountain. The city is a labyrinth of tunnels, passageways and
huge halls and is home to more than 100,000 dwarves! Making it
one of the largest, if not the largest, population
centres in the continent.
There are several other cities in the kingdom but none equal Nazakhan either in size, architecture or sheer grandeur. The carved battlements rise hundreds of feet above the valley at the head of which the city lies and the gilded interior halls are a sight that many dwarves from throughout the world aspire to see at least once before they die!
The kingdom has a long and proud history. The kings line remains unbroken for several thousand years and ancestors of the current king, Druthnar, son of Thorinar, Hammerheart, include Thordur Hammerheart who fought at the side of Elquin Goldencrown at the Battle of Tun'Qweth. The line dates back even further than that though and the Hammerhearts are said to have been sired by Moradin, the Soul Forger himself.
Over the years the Kingdom of Iron has endured many wars and sieges but the capital has never fallen. The fortresses and cities form a bulwark between the Northlands and the evil hordes of the Shadowlands. As well as the orcs, undead and devils of the Shadowlands the kingdom has to contend with the races of the Underdark as well and must remain ever vigilant least the drow, duergar or mind flayers try to wrest control of their lands from them. The wars fought in the cramped, constricted corridors, mines and caverns of the sunless world beneath the Kharnik Mountains are more bloody and deadly than any fought on the surface. In these wars no quarter is asked or given and only the strongest and bravest survive. The last war fought in the Underdark occurred about 50 years ago and the dwarves proved victorious, routing an army of duergar and destroying their homeland.
The Kingdom of Iron is said to be home to more than 250,000 dwarves spread throughout the many cities, towns and villages of this mainly subterranean realm. The kingdom includes both hill dwarves and mountain dwarves in its population and their is often a friendly rivalry between these closely related kin. Each town, or city in the kingdom is ruled by one clan. There is a strong sense of clan loyalty within the clan as well as a strong rivalry with other clans but all and each clan swears allegiance to the king and each clansman would die to protect the honour of a kinsman or another dwarf however distant the relation.
The kingdom has a booming economy. Each village or town specialises in the creation of one or two items and the quality of the dwarven craftsmen is unmatched anywhere, perhaps because who clans are engaged in the one specialist activity and that over the centuries they have been able to refine their skill to a level that is unmatched anywhere else.
The dwarves excel at the creation of metal goods, armour and weapons. But their stone masons and engineers are also without equal. It is said that the greatest of the dwarven master craftsmen can forge magical weapons and that somewhere deep within the heart of Nazakhan is an armoury full of enchanted axes, hammers, maces and swords that have never been used!
Since the founding of Storrmhaven there has been growing trade between the dwarves and the nations of the south. This trade must pass through the port of Stormhaven and this continual flow of gold and iron goods has made the city extremely wealthy. But the flow of trade is not only one way and the dwarves are now able to purchase superior human made goods that were formerly unavailable to them- wool which for some reason was unavailable in the kingdom until recently is especially prized by the dwarves and a flourishing trade has recently developed for woollen goods.
The Kingdom of Iron has a large standing army. It is rumoured that 10,000 dwarves are under arms at any one time patrolling the mines, passageways and subterranean highways of the realm. In times of need at least four times that number can be mustered to march to war and in really desperate times you could perhaps double that again For each and every dwarf must do his decades worth of compulsory military service in the militia before choosing his career path, thus every dwarf has been trained in the arts of war and is ready to march if needed to protect their homeland.
The Kings Guard is an elite regiment that is the pride of the kingdom, each dwarf is hand picked and joining the Guards is a dream that almost every young dwarf holds. The Guards are said to be 1,000 strong and they wear plate mail armour fashioned out of pure mithril!
This page was last updated on
Wednesday, 10 October 2001